Sources: Harassment case targets MSU’s Tucker

• Dan Murphy, ESPN Staff WriterSep 10, 2023, 12:04 AM ET

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Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker is the subject of a continuous university sexual harassment examination, sources with knowledge of the pending case validated to ESPN.The sources did not verify the complainant’s identity or information about the claims Saturday night. Sources said the investigation began months earlier and stays open.According to an USA Today report Sunday, the problem

was filed by Brenda Tracy, a popular sexual assault avoidance supporter, who declares Tucker sent her gifts, asked if she would date him if he wasn’t wed and masturbated without her permission during a phone call.Tracy checked out Michigan State in August 2021 and April 2022 to speak to the football group about preventing sexual misconduct, and she was named an honorary captain at the group’s spring football game throughout that April check out. After the game, Tracy stated Tucker called her numerous times, asked her repeatedly to meet him alone and” even suggested slipping into her hotel through a back entrance so nobody would see him, “according to the USA Today report.Michigan State employed an outdoors Title IX attorney to examine Tracy’s complaint, which was filed in December, according to the USA Today report. In a March letter to the private investigator, Tucker called their relationship “mutually consensual and intimate, “according to U.S.A. Today. In statements to the private investigator, Tucker acknowledged masturbating on the call but said the 2 had consensual phone sex, according to the report.”Ms. Tracy’s distortion of our equally consensual and intimate relationship into claims of sexual exploitation has actually really affected me,”Tucker composed in the March 22 letter to the private investigator, according to the U.S.A. Today report.”I am not happy with my judgment and I am having trouble forgiving myself for getting into this circumstance, but I did not take part in misbehavior by any meaning.” Tracy did not respond to messages from ESPN seeking remark. She told the investigator that Tucker’s romantic interest was one-sided, according to the USA Today report.ESPN filed a public records demand with Michigan State on July 30, seeking files associated with any complaints declaring that Tucker breached the university’s relationship violence and sexual

misbehavior policy.The school’s interim president refused the demand, mentioning a passage in state law that exempts information that”would make up a clearly unwarranted intrusion of a person’s privacy.””Under FOIA’s privacy exemption, info is exempt if(1)it is individual in nature, and (2)disclosure would reveal little to absolutely nothing about the inner workings of the government. Info is individual in nature when it is intimate, embarrassing, private, or private,” Michigan State wrote in its denial.ESPN believes the rejection is an offense of state open records law and has engaged a Michigan-based law firm to pursue possible litigation.” As a matter of protocol, the university does not discuss prospective examinations.

Let me guarantee you that if any grievance stepped forward regarding an offense of the university’s Relationship Violence and Sexual Misconduct policy, it

would be thoroughly reviewed and acted on by MSU’s Office for Civil liberty,”a spokeswoman for Michigan State said in a statement to ESPN on Saturday night.”Confidentiality is important to the culture around reporting events– it’s essential in producing a safe environment for people to come forward. Our dedication to our school neighborhood and the general public is to guarantee that every problem or concern advanced is taken seriously and, when called for, that a comprehensive examination happens. When investigations do take place, they need the capability to be conducted in an extensive and personal way.”A request for comment from Neil Cornrich, Tucker’s agent, was not right away returned.Tracy runs a nonprofit called Set The Expectation, which aims to prevent sexual violence and misbehavior by working mainly with males. She began talking to football programs after publicly alleging in 2014 that she was raped by four men, consisting of 2 Oregon State football players, in the

late 1990s. According to the organization’s website, Tracy has provided her messages to countless players on more than 100 college campuses.According to U.S.A. Today, a hearing to identify whether Tucker violated the school’s unwanted sexual advances policy is set up for Oct. 5 and 6. Tucker is in his fourth season as Michigan State coach. He signed a contract extension in November 2021 worth approximately $95 million over 10 years, making him one of the highest-paid coaches in college sports. Tucker’s agreement states the school can fire him with cause”if the coach participated in any conduct which makes up moral turpitude or, which in the university’s affordable judgment, would tend to bring public disrespect, contempt or ridicule.”Michigan State is 2-0 after beating Richmond 45-14 on Saturday.