School under more adversity

The Associated Press

CHICAGO» Michigan State University, already reeling from the scandal involving a gymnastics doctor who molested young athletes, maintained ties to a prominent volleyball coach long after he was publicly accused in 1995 of sexually abusing and raping six underage girls he trained in the 1980s.

Letters obtained by The Associated Press from advocates for the accusers reveal the school has been under pressure for at least a year to sever its relationship with Rick Butler. He runs training facilities in suburban Chicago that for decades have been a pipeline for top volleyball recruits, including Michigan State.

Butler’s accusers say he threatened to use his national influence to thwart their college prospects if they did not accept his advances.

Questions about ties to Butler add to the scrutiny of Michigan State that began when Dr. Larry Nassar was charged in 2016 with abusing scores of gymnasts over 20 years while he had an office on campus.

Colleges nationwide have recruited players trained by Butler and sent teams to play at his facilities, but one of Butler’s 1995 accusers, Sarah Powers-Barnhard, said there’s a special onus on Michigan State in the wake of Nassar to have nothing to do with him. Instead, she said, the school “turned a blind eye” to Butler’s sordid history.

“If we don’t stop supporting the top abuser in volleyball, how can we ever claim zero tolerance for sexual abuse?” she said from her Jacksonville, Fla., home.

The 63-year-old Butler has never been criminally charged. The alleged abuse occurred more than 30 years ago and was already beyond the statute of limitations for prosecution when the first three accusers came forward in 1995. Three others came forward more recently.

Powers-Barnhard said Butler molested her hundreds of times over two years starting when she was 16 and he was around 30. She says he raped her at his home, in cars and even in a train-car bathroom as her teammates sat nearby.

In a short Monday statement responding to AP questions, the university said Butler is currently “not affiliated with MSU in any way.” The school, it added, “is not actively recruiting players from his program at this time.”

The statement did not address other questions, including when any affiliation with Butler might have ended or why the university had ties to him for so long after he was publicly accused.

In a 1995 report, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services found no evidence to support Butler’s claim the three athletes were lying. He acknowledged during a 1995 hearing held by USA Volleyball, the sport’s national governing body, that he had sex with the three. He insisted it was after they turned 18 and was consensual.

A statement issued Tuesday by his attorney, Danielle D’Ambrose, said the allegations he sexually abused anyone “are absolutely false.”

USA Volleyball in December banned Butler from its events for life, and the Amateur Athletic Union stripped him of his membership this year.