Fox News Flash top sports headlines for September 9
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Michigan State head football coach Mel Tucker is facing accusations of sexually harassing a woman who is a rape survivor and an activist, and he is under investigation by the school, according to multiple reports.
Brenda Tracy, a sexual assault-prevention advocate who was gang raped by four college football players in 1998, filed the complaint against Tucker and alleged that the coach had asked whether she would date him if he weren’t already married, and masturbated without her consent during a phone call, according to USA Today.
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Head coach Mel Tucker of the Michigan State Spartans speaks at Big Ten football media days at Lucas Oil Stadium on July 26, 2023, in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
Tracy talked to the Michigan State football team in August 2021 and April 2022 about preventing sexual violence and misconduct and was named an honorary captain for the team’s spring football game that April. Shesaid afterward that Tucker had called her multiple times after the visit and even brought up meeting him alone, according to USA Today.
Tracy said she filed a complaint with the university’s Title IX office in December after a phone call in which Tucker allegedly made sexual comments and masturbated, according to the report. Tucker reportedly provided a conflicting statement to the Title IX investigator. He claimed they had had consensual "phone sex."
"Ms. Tracy’s distortion of our mutually consensual and intimate relationship into allegations of sexual exploitation has really affected me," Tucker wrote to the Title IX investigator in March, according to USA Today. "I am not proud of my judgment and I am having difficulty forgiving myself for getting into this situation, but I did not engage in misconduct by any definition."
Tracy told the outlet, "It’s like he sought me out just to betray me."
Michigan State Spartans head coach Mel Tucker congratulates his team as they come off the field during a college football game against the Richmond Spiders on September 9, 2023, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan. (Adam Ruff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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Michigan State hired an outside Title IX attorney to investigation. The attorney wrapped the investigation in July, and a hearing on whether Tucker violated any school rules is set for October 5 and 6.
A rep for Tucker didn’t immediately return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Tucker signed a 10-year, $95 million extension in November 2021 and has been married for more than 20 years. He and his wife have two sons together.
A statement from Michigan State University said the school doesn’t comment on possible investigations as a "matter of protocol," according to MLive.com.
"Let me assure you that if any complaint came forward regarding a violation of the university’s Relationship Violence and Sexual Misconduct policy, it would be thoroughly reviewed and followed up on by MSU’s Office for Civil Rights. Confidentiality is important to the culture around reporting incidents – it’s crucial in creating a safe environment for individuals to come forward," Michigan State spokesperson Emily Guerrant said in a statement.
Michigan State Spartans head coach Mel Tucker during the Big Ten Conference Media Days on July 26, 2023, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. (James Black/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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"Our commitment to our campus community and the public is to ensure that every complaint or concern brought forward is taken seriously and, when warranted, that a thorough investigation takes place. When investigations do happen, they need the ability to be conducted in a thorough and confidential manner."