The FBI and U.S. Army investigated allegations that Indiana University basketball coach Bobby Knight inappropriately touched several women during a July 2015 visit to a U.S. spy agency, but they did not bring charges against Knight, the Washington Post reported Friday.
Knight gave a speech at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) on July 10, 2015, and at least four women alleged that Knight groped or touched them inappropriately during his visit, according to the Washington Post. One woman said that Knight touched her on the shoulder while commenting on her legs and another said he hit her on the buttocks, according to the Post.
Following complaints about Knight’s behavior, the NGA’s inspector general and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence launched an investigation, which was then turned over to the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command, the Washington Post reported. Army investigators spoke with the women who complained of Knight’s inappropriate behavior but decided they did not have jurisdiction over Knight as a civilian, and turned over the probe to the FBI.
The FBI did not interview Knight until July 2016, a few months after Knight joined then-candidate Donald Trump on the campaign trail in Indiana. Knight has denied wrongdoing.
“There is absolutely no credible evidence to support this in our opinion, these allegations,” James Voyles, Knight’s lawyer, told the Washington Post. Voyles told the Post that FBI agents “reported to their superiors that there was no basis for any further action, period.”
The FBI closed the probe last year and decided not to bring charges against Knight, according to the Washington Post.
Read the Washington Post’s full report here.
