Rick Pitino paid for abortion

Louisville coach Rick Pitino told police that he had consensual sex with and paid for an abortion for the woman who has been charged with trying to extort him, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported on Tuesday.

Karen Cunagin Sypher was federally charged in April with demanding cars, tuition for her children and finally $10 million. Police interviewed Pitino, who is married, regarding the incident last month, and according to the newspaper, he said that he gave the woman $3,000 to have an abortion.

Police records obtained by the Courier-Journal show that Pitino said he had sex with the then Karen Cunagin at a Louisville restaurant where he had been drinking on Aug. 1, 2003. He denied Cunagin Sypher’s allegations that he raped her at the restaurant and then again later at a different location.

Pitino told police that Cunagin Sypher called him about two weeks after the initial encounter and said that she was pregnant. They arranged to meet at the condominium of Louisville strength coach Tim Sypher, whom she did not know at that time but would later marry.

According to the police report, Pitino said Cunagin Sypher had decided to get an abortion but claimed to not have health insurance. Pitino then gave her the $3,000. He told police that the two did not have sex at the condo or at any other location.

According to the report, Cunagin Sypher married Tim Sypher about six months later and, though she saw Pitino at team events, he claims there was never “any strange behavior.” Cunagin Sypher and Tim Sypher are now estranged and divorce proceedings have been initiated.

The criminal complaint said Tim Sypher brought Pitino a written list of demands from his wife, including college tuition for her children, two cars, money to pay off her house and $3,000 per month. The demands later escalated to $10 million, the complaint said. Tim Sypher has not been charged in the case.

Cunagin Sypher reported the alleged rapes on July 9, about two months after she was indicted for extortion and lying to the FBI.

Sgt. Andy Abbott, the commander of the police department’s sex offense unit, asked Cunagin Sypher during one interview why she waited until after she was indicted on the extortion charge to report her allegations.

She gave varying answers, according to transcripts, saying she wanted to forget about it, then that Pitino threatened her and finally that “they kept throwing crumbs to keep me happy.” She didn’t say what they were, the newspaper reported.

Abbott asked Cunagin Sypher in the interview why she was coming forward now, only after she was charged.

“Because … where we are, it seems like retaliation,” Abbott said.

“I know it does,” Cunagin Sypher responded.

In addition, Cunagin Sypher did not disclose that there was a witness to the event at the restaurant, Vinnie Tatum, an executive assistant to Pitino. According to Abbott’s report, Tatum said he didn’t see what happened but heard “only the sounds of two people that seemed to be enjoying themselves during a sexual encounter.”

Louisville commonwealth’s attorney David Stengel declined to prosecute the case in July.

Steven Pence, Rick Pitino’s lawyer, told ESPN.com Tuesday night that there is no reason why Pitino would take a leave of absence in light of the information from his client’s police interview being made public.

“I can’t see any reason why the coach would take a leave of absence for being victimized by a woman like this,” Pence said. “He doesn’t deserve to be punished for something he hasn’t done. I can see no reason why he would take a leave of absence when he was being extorted. He has done nothing illegal.”

Kenny Klein, assistant athletic director in charge of communications at Louisville, added that Pitino hasn’t made any suggestion that he would leave the program. He said that athletic director Tom Jurich and the administration are behind Pitino.

Louisville University president James Ramsey said his thoughts were with Pitino and his family.

“Several months ago Coach Pitino informed me about the alleged extortion attempt. I’ve now been informed that there may be other details which, if true, I find surprising,” he said in a statement.

Pitino hired longtime friend Ralph Willard, former head coach at Holy Cross, to be his top assistant in June. But Klein said there was no indication when Willard was hired that he would take over for Pitino on an interim basis.

Pence said Pitino’s involvement in the case would only be for one day when he is called as a witness, adding that there will not be any legal burden on Pitino during the trial. The date of the trial is still pending.

“The coach is a witness,” Pence said. “He’s not subject to any penalty. He’s not reporting to a probation officer. He’s a witness. He’ll show up one time and that will be it. This is not Pitino vs. Sypher. It’s the United States government vs. Sypher.”

At least one coach close to Pitino told ESPN.com Tuesday night that there was no reason to believe Pitino would step away from coaching.

“We will have this tried in court,” Pence said. “We’re not going to address the facts in this case until the time is right and that time right now is a pending federal trial.”

Pitino isn’t expected to make any public statements on the matter until he is in court.

The newspaper obtained the records under the Kentucky Open Records Act.

Neither Cunagin Sypher nor her attorney, James Earhart, immediately returned calls from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Pitino just finished his eighth season with the Cardinals, leading Louisville to a 31-6 record and the Big East regular-season and tournament titles. The Cardinals lost to Michigan State in the regional finals of the NCAA tournament.

Pitino has coached two NBA teams. He went 90-74 with the New York Knicks from 1987 to 1989 and 102-146 with the Celtics from 1997 to 2001.

ESPN.com senior writer Andy Katz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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