Tennessee head coach Butch Jones was in near constant communication with Volunteers players, Tennessee AD Dave Hart and Knoxville police after an alleged rape committed by two UT football players last November, according to documents obtained by the Tennessean.
Volunteers players A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams face separate charges of sexual assault after allegedly raping a female Tennessee athlete at their off-campus apartment on Nov. 16. Tennessee player Drae Bowles testified he came to the aid of the woman, and that Vols teammate Curt Maggitt punched him in the mouth later that day for intervening. Bowles also testified Jones said he “betrayed the team,” an accusation Jones denies.
Call logs of Jones’ cell phone show he was in contact with Knoxville policeman Sam Brown and police chief David Rauch the morning of the report, and then several times later in the day. Jones also spoke by phone with Bowles twice in conversations totaling 16 minutes and one conversation with Bowles’ father, Dexter Bowles, a sheriff’s captain in Madison County, Tenn.
The logs also show Jones spoke with Maggitt and Johnson on the day of the report.
“Anytime we have a disciplinary issue with a player, we have as many conversations as needed with players, parents, law enforcement, whomever until we can be sure that we are making the best decision possible,” Jones said in a statement. “These are decisions that can be life-changing for these individuals. After taking into account all the information we could gather in this case, we made the decision to suspend two student-athletes from the team immediately.”
If anything, the logs appear more damaging for Knoxville PD than Jones himself, especially this sentence from the Tennessean‘s report: “The calls from Knoxville law enforcement officials to Jones came hours before police searched the apartment where the incident allegedly took place.”
“At no time is any information shared with the university that would hinder or jeopardize any investigation,” Rausch said in a statement. “The purpose of the notification is due to the scrutiny these events bring to allow appropriate time to prepare responses to the various interests. Our paramount concern at KPD is to the victims and their families and to assure them that we will utilize every resource available to conduct a thorough and comprehensive investigation.”
Johnson and Williams were suspended from the team Nov. 17. They face separate trials for sexual assault later this year.