{"id":58459,"date":"2018-02-09T07:47:37","date_gmt":"2018-02-09T07:47:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=58459"},"modified":"2018-02-09T07:47:37","modified_gmt":"2018-02-09T07:47:37","slug":"georgia-tech-mens-basketball-coach-josh-pastner-fights-back-against-sexual-assault-claim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/sports\/georgia-tech-mens-basketball-coach-josh-pastner-fights-back-against-sexual-assault-claim.html","title":{"rendered":"Georgia Tech men’s basketball coach Josh Pastner fights back against sexual assault claim"},"content":{"rendered":"

Georgia Tech men’s basketball coach Josh Pastner fights back against sexual assault claim<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Georgia Tech men’s basketball coach Josh Pastner pushed back against the claims leveled against him in an Arizona court filing Thursday.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Unequivocally, there is zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero truth to any of those disgusting, bogus allegations,” Pastner said after Georgia Tech’s game against Louisville on Thursday night. “It’s disgusting.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Lawyers for Jennifer Pendley of Arizona and her boyfriend, Ronald Bell, alleged in a countersuit obtained by USA TODAY Sports that Pastner engaged in misconduct toward Pendley multiple times in February-March of 2016. The 31-page filing in Pima County (Ariz.) Superior Court went into detail on one alleged incident inside a Houston hotel room on Feb. 9, 2016 where Pastner allegedly exposed himself and performed a non-consensual sex act.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pastner said he “absolutely got victimized” by Pendley and Bell. Earlier in the day, Pastner’s Kansas-based attorney Scott Tompsett said in a statement that “there was no sexual assault. It is a lie.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Pastner was in his final season as head coach at the University of Memphis at the time of that purported incident.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pastner addressed the claims after the Yellow Jackets lost to the Cardinals on Thursday night 74-71:<\/span><\/p>\n

“Coach Pastner and his legal team have continued to keep Georgia Tech fully appraised of the situation, and we support Coach Pastner\u2019s efforts to address this personal matter. Georgia Tech does not comment on pending legal cases,” Georgia Tech said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thursday’s filing, which seeks a jury trial and monetary damages, comes nearly a month after Pastner filed a defamation suit in the same court against Pendley and Bell.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Much of the information Bell and Pendley threatened to release and did release was known by Bell and Pendley to be materially false, inaccurate and misleading, and Bell and Pendley intended that Pastner would be threatened, blackmailed and extorted into paying them money in order to prevent the information from being disclosed to the public, the media, Georgia Tech and the NCAA,” Pastner’s Arizona-based attorney Scott Palumbo wrote in the lawsuit filed Jan. 12.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ashley Gilpin, one of the attorneys representing Bell and Pendley, told USA TODAY Sports the couple had previously attempted to sue Pastner in Texas, but that case was not pursued. The Texas law firm did send a notice to preserve evidence in December, Gilpin said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Josh Pastner files lawsuit against Ron Bell<\/span><\/p>\n

No criminal investigation was undertaken by police, Gilpin confirmed. She added that Pendley said she did not report any of the alleged incidents to authorities due to intimidation levied by Pastner.<\/span><\/p>\n

“In this era of women courageously coming forward to report valid claims of sexual assault and harassment, we are saddened and outraged that Mr. Bell and Ms. Pendley have concocted a malicious lie to blackmail and to harm a family that showed only compassion toward them,” Tompsett said in a statement.<\/span><\/p>\n

The accusations between Bell and Pastner began several months ago when Bell admitted to providing impermissible benefits to two Georgia Tech players in an article by CBS Sports. Bell alleged that Pastner encouraged him to do it in order to keep the players from transferring.<\/span><\/p>\n

Georgia Tech released a statement to USA TODAY Sports that reads:<\/span><\/p>\n

“We are aware that a countersuit was filed today in response to the civil lawsuit that Georgia Tech men\u2019s basketball head coach Josh Pastner filed in Arizona on Jan. 12. Coach Pastner and his legal team have continued to keep Georgia Tech fully appraised of the situation, and we support Coach Pastner\u2019s efforts to address this personal matter. Georgia Tech does not comment on pending legal cases.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Pastner allowed Bell access to his programs at both Memphis and Georgia Tech.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pastner’s attorneys called those claims \u201cfabricated and false.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The two formed a friendship more than a decade ago when Pastner encouraged Bell to seek help for a prescription drug problem. They then re-connected in 2013, when Pastner provided emotional support for Bell while he allegedly battled cancer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/ncaab\/2018\/02\/08\/georgia-tech-mens-basketball-coach-josh-paster-fights-back-against-sexual-assault-claim\/321643002\/<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t <\/div><\/div>\n\t\t