Louisville, KY (My Sportsbook) - University of Louisville head men's basketball coach Rick Pitino reportedly told police he had consensual sex and paid for an abortion to the woman who was at the center of an extortion case against him. The Louisville Courier-Journal reports Pitino had sex with Karen Cunagin Sypher at a Louisville restaurant where he had been drinking on August 1, 2003. The newspaper obtained Louisville Metro Police reports, in which Pitino told authorities he gave Sypher $3,000 to have an abortion. The 56-year-old Pitino, who is married and has five children, denied Sypher's allegations that he raped her at the restaurant after it closed and a few weeks later at another location. Sypher was indicted by a federal grand jury of trying to extort money from Pitino to the tune of $10 million and lying to the FBI about the alleged incidents. She pleaded not guilty, but a Kentucky prosecutor declined to pursue the case due to a lack of evidence. The Courier-Journal reports Sypher, the estranged wife of Louisville equipment manager Tim Sypher, reported the alleged rapes to the police on July 9, two months after she was indicted. The Courier-Journal reports police records show there were questions about Sypher's credibility after she was interviewed twice about her accounts of the incidents. The newspaper additionally reported that Sgt. Andy Abbott said records indicate Pitino was in California when Sypher claimed of the second sexual assault. |
