ATLANTA, Ga. — A Title IX investigation has cleared Josh Pastner following allegations that he sexually assaulted a former friend’s girlfriend back in 2016.
The Title IX report – which was created by Fisher Phillips Law Firm and released on Monday by Georgia Tech University – said the allegations against the coach were “concocted by [Ron] Bell, made in bad faith, and asserted only after various other attempts to damage and/or extort Pastner failed,” ESPN reported.
“Bell turned his access in Josh Pastner’s world into a potential money-making opportunity,” it said. “Unfortunately for Bell, all of his requests to ‘settle this amicably’ were rebuffed which, in turn, only led him to escalate his allegations. Bell and Pendley’s allegations that Pastner sexually assaulted Pendley are baseless.”
The allegations were made after Pastner sued Bell in January after he began “a malicious campaign” against the coach. The aim of the allegations, Pastner’s lawsuit claimed, was to get him in trouble with the NCAA or possibly even fired from his coaching job at Georgia Tech.
Several weeks later Bell and Pendley filed a counter suit that claimed Pastner had sexually assaulted Pendley in 2016.
“Pastner acknowledges Bell and Pendley were in Houston for the game,” the Title IX report said, but claimed “he did not recall ever being in Bell and Pendley’s hotel room but was unequivocal that he was never alone with Pendley.”
“There are several straightforward facts which individually would cast doubt on Pendley’s allegations, but when considered collectively, make plain that this incident did not occur.”
For example, the pair claimed Pastner assaulted her before a Georgia Tech game against Sam Houston State in November 2016. In that alleged incident, the couple said a security guard witnesses the assault.
That allegation fell apart when their witness told investigators he was not working that night and was at his family’s home for Thanksgiving. Time sheets confirmed the guard was not working that night.
Bell and Pendley were asked to take part in the report by being interviewed by investigators but refused.