A Xavier University basketball player has filed a complaint that a former coach sexually abused her three months ago at his Northern Kentucky home.
Ex-Musketeers assistant coach Bryce McKey, 29, has been accused of inappropriately touching one of the players he coached at Xavier, according to court documents obtained by The Enquirer. Authorities are seeking a charge of misdemeanor sexual abuse.
McKey, now an assistant coach at the University of Maryland, is scheduled to be arraigned in Kenton County District Court on Friday morning. He faces up to 90 days in jail and a $250 fine if convicted.
Maryland has suspended McKey indefinitely, a university spokesman told The Enquirer late Thursday.
McKey did not respond to an email seeking comment.
The 20-year-old player alleges that on May 2, McKey asked her to come to his Covington residence, according to a complaint. After the player arrived at McKey's residence, he "offered her alcohol and after a few drinks, he touched her buttocks on two occasions without her permission," according to the complaint.
While she was leaving, McKey asked for a hug and "pulled her close to him and she felt he was trying to kiss her at which time she pushed him away and left the residence," according to the complaint. In the days following the incident, court records say, McKey contacted the woman through a mutual friend and offered money in exchange for not pursuing charges.
The Enquirer is not naming the woman who brought the complaint because she may have been the victim of a sex crime.
McKey was not a Xavier employee at the time of the alleged incident, Xavier general counsel Joe Feldhaus told The Enquirer on Thursday. Maryland announced McKey's hiring on April 22, according to a news release.
Feldhaus said privacy laws prohibited him from discussing McKey's employment record during the coach's four years at Xavier. The university official added that he learned about the incident between 30 and 60 days ago. Had there been a complaint about McKey while he was coaching at Xavier, "there would have been public knowledge of an incident if we were aware of one," Feldhaus said.
"An allegation like this is horrible," Feldhaus said. "If it's happened to our students, we feel terrible about it – not that we have any control."
Akron-based attorney Walter Madison, who is representing the player, said McKey had recruited her out of high school.
"Mr. McKey had developed a relationship with her parents and they had trusted him," Madison said. "She had trusted him almost without question."
Madison also said that team members had gone to McKey's house in the past for team-oriented events.
"There was nothing unusual or suspect about them going to his house," Madison said.
Madison told The Enquirer that the woman's parents are upset about what they see as a breach of trust. He said they're asking, "'If we didn't raise our daughter better, how would this have gone?'"
The player's father, who is not being named to protect the identity of the accuser, spoke to The Enquirer late Thursday.
"My trust was violated and (her) trust was violated," he said. "I'm disappointed in Bryce. I'm disappointed in the school."
Her father said McKey's role last season as assistant coach made the situation worse. He said coaches at Xavier told his daughter that McKey had a lot to do with her future.
"To take advantage of someone you have authority over or feel that you are in control of their future and you set them up and you give them alcohol, then all of a sudden you take advantage of them," he said. "This is the situation she was put in."
The father said the player was reluctant to tell him about the incident because she didn't want to get McKey in trouble. He said he found out after she told her siblings. He said part of the family's decision to take this incident to the legal system was to serve as a model for other women who have faced similar situations.
He said that no one from Xavier has contacted him since the incident occurred. His daughter remains on the women's basketball team and has no plans to leave school.
"I told her she needs to get an education, this will be resolved," he said. "I'm really proud of her. I'm proud of her for stepping forward and hanging in even now."
"To say she's doing it with as much energy as she had in the past, no she's not, but she's hanging in there," he said. "She won't trust like she used to, but she's been taught that she's got to go on and she will."
The women's team currently is in Canada on a summer basketball tour. Coach Brian Neal could not be reached for comment.
Like this story? Like WUSA9 on Facebook.
MORE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND STORIES:
