Sports

Rick Pitino Affair: Coach Paid for Karen Sypher Abortion

by Jon Azpiri | August 11, 2009 at 08:27 pm

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Louisville coach Rick Pitino finds himself embroiled in a sex scandal after admitting to having sex with Karen Sypher. Karen Sypher, in turn, has accused Pitino of sexual assault.

Both Rick Pitino and Karen Sypher tell wildly different stories about their relationship. Karen Sypher has accused Rick Pitino of sexually assaulting her on two occasions. Police investigated the claims and found that there was no merit to her claims.

Pitino claims that they had consensual sex with Karen Sypher and that he helped pay for her abortion. He also accused her of trying to extort him for $10 million.

What Rick Pitino and Karen Sypher do agree on is that they met a Louisville restaurant back in 2003.

Pitino said Sypher left the restaurant and returned at about closing time. He said that after the restaurant closed and the last employees and owner Tim Coury had left, Sypher “started coming on to him and that they had sex,” according to Abbott's report. Pitino said he learned later that Tatum was still there.

Tatum told the FBI that he had lain down and couldn't see what happened but that he heard what sounded like consensual sex, Abbott wrote in a report. Pitino told Abbott that he had had too much alcohol to drive and eventually got a ride home from Sypher, whom he said was “driving him crazy” on the way there, asking for basketball tickets. He said he gave her his business card and told her to call about them

Two weeks later Karen Cunagin Sypher reportedly phoned Pitino to tell him she was pregnant.

He said that if she chose to have the child, he would require a blood test to determine whether or not the child was his.

He said she told him she was going to have an abortion but didn't have health insurance. He said he asked how much it would cost and she said $3,000, which he gave her, according to Abbott's report.

Pitino, he has not been charged with anything, but his reputation will likely be tarnished.