A sexual abuse and harassment lawsuit has been filed against the director of the University of Connecticut’s Championship Labs program.
Bryan Roberts previously worked as an associate dean at the Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College.
An Ithaca student filed the Title IX lawsuit this past November against both Ithaca College and the former associate dean, an Ithacan article stated.
UConn has not released a statement or publicly acknowledged the allegations against the defendant. Roberts himself has not publicly spoken to UConn sources about the matter.
The Ithaca student, who chose to not be named, filed the lawsuit on the grounds that they were involved “in an unwelcome, unsafe, threatening and/or nonconsensual sexual relationship.”
The student stated that this relationship lasted for roughly two years from the fall of 2021 until the spring of 2023 and involved just under 10 nonconsensual sexual encounters.
The complaint also states that along with knowledge of sexual abuse, Roberts used Grindr, a popular LGBTQ+ dating app, to virtually meet other Ithaca students.
The case states that in December 2021, Roberts met the student on Grindr. Additionally, the lawsuit claims that Roberts’ history of sexual abuse was known amongst other students, staff and faculty at Ithaca College.
Roberts told the Ithacan, “I have spoken with my attorneys, and we have filed a motion to have the complaint completely dismissed. A large part of the case already has been.”
However, the Ithacan reported that since Jan. 19 there has been no action taken or filed to dismiss the case based on court records.
“UConn doesn’t comment on personnel matters,” UConn Spokesperson Stephanie Reitz said.
Earlier this week, Ithaca College’s Intercom resource published a letter to the community regarding the lawsuit and the college’s actions in response to the allegations, along with student resources.
“As you may be aware, Ithaca College has been included in a lawsuit recently filed by a student claiming violations of Title IX and other statutes by the college and other individuals. We first want to acknowledge the impact these allegations may have on members of our community and remind you of resources that are available to you,” the letter said.
Along with being the director of Championship Labs, Roberts currently teaches in UConn’s communications department.
Roberts obtained his position at UConn five months ago, according to his LinkedIn page.
“Students who have questions about any areas of their academic or on-campus experience are encouraged to contact the Dean of Students Office, which can work with them on those issues or direct them to other areas of the University for assistance,” Reitz said.
That’s a bit misleading and a half truth. The person in question charged four people, not just one.
https://theithacan.org/52224/uncategorized/defendants-file-motions-to-dismiss-claims-in-lawsuit-against-ithaca-college/
“The student, known as John Doe in the case, alleged that he was sexually abused and harassed by four then-employees of the college, including the former associate dean.”
So unless you think they got together like Voltron I don’t think anything really happened. The guy in question also has Parkinson’s. You might want to change the headline because it heavily implies the activity happened at UConn by a UConn employee and that is not the case.