Coppin State, the lawsuit asserts, questioned Williams about his past sexual experiences and orientation after he asked the school to conduct a review of the claims of harassment, sexual assault and blackmail.
Source: Coppin State University / Coppin State University
ABaltimore judge has dismissed Coppin State University from a lawsuit that alleges blackmail and sexual assault from a member of the men’s basketball staff, according to The Baltimore Banner.
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A former Coppin State men’s basketball player accuses Lucian Brownlee, an assistant on former coach Juan Dixon’s team, of blackmailing and sexually assaulting him. The former player filed the lawsuit on Nov. 2 and alleges Coppin State failed to protect student-athletes.
The Baltimore Banner reports that Baltimore Circuit Judge Melissa K. Copeland made the ruling based on various legal grounds last Monday at a hearing and said she would allow the complaint to be amended.
Brownlee was first a teammate to the victim before serving as a director of player development at Coppin State.
The alleged incidents happened in the Fall of 2018 after the victim claimed that someone pretending to be a young woman on social media convinced him to send images of a “sexual nature,” which he believed were “private and in the context of developing a romantic relationship,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit states that the person revealed that the young woman did not exist and told the victim that he would have to “submit to further demands or risk the public disclosure of the material.” That blackmailer later directed the victim to “engage in sexual encounters” with Brownlee, who had since graduated and became part of the coaching staff.
The lawsuit also stated that former coach Juan Dixon and the school’s Athletics Director knew about the accusations.
Dixon, a former Baltimore high school and University of Maryland basketball standout, left Coppin State in March after six seasons at the school.
From Baltimore Banner:
Coppin State, the lawsuit asserts, questioned Williams about his past sexual experiences and orientation after he asked the school to conduct a review of the claims of harassment, sexual assault and blackmail.
Williams has since transferred to Morehouse College, a private, historically Black college in Atlanta.
Copeland also dismissed all counts against Carter, the University System of Maryland and the State of Maryland.
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