A 2013 internal investigation at LSU accused former coach Les Miles of inappropriate behavior towards female students, but did not find that Miles had sex with any of the women, according to an investigative report released by the university on Thursday. market.
According to the investigative report, first reported by USA Today and obtained by ESPN, Miles was accused of contacting female students via Facebook and text, meeting them alone off campus and kissing at least one of them.
According to the report, Miles vehemently denied having kissed the student and said he did nothing wrong, that he was mentoring young women at the university. The sports department team accused Miles of saying that the student employees who helped attract the best recruits to the football team “needed to look certain”, which implied that it meant attractive, blonde and fit, according to the report, and if existing employees do not fit that description, they should be given less hours or be fired.
In a statement provided to ESPN, Miles’ lawyer Peter Ginsberg said the disclosure of the investigation, which was made by the law firm Taylor Porter on behalf of LSU, “should put an end to the baseless and inaccurate media reports that the coach Les Miles involved in an inappropriate touch by a volunteer student at the Athletics Department eight years ago. “
“As the Report concludes, the claim that Coach Miles tried to kiss the woman was not supported by any evidence and did not justify any discipline: ‘We do not believe that under existing law and the terms of the contract there is reason to discipline and / or terminate Coach Miles. Coach Miles then denied, as he now does, that such conduct occurred. “
Miles’ lawyer said a second woman made a similar claim that was not supported by the findings.
According to the investigative report, “that woman’s inconsistent and vague behavior and statements are such that she does not appear to be a reliable source of information”. The woman said, according to the report, that she was “subjected to an unwanted touch”.
Taylor Porter’s investigation determined “we can’t determine what happened” in Miles’s car, where the first woman said Miles kissed her twice.
Although there is no verdict on what actually happened in the car, the report stated “there can be little doubt that the conduct, if true, is inappropriate and unacceptable”, and that even accepting Miles’s version of what happened “, it seems that he has shown a lack of judgment in putting himself (and the student employee) in a situation where the student employee may feel uncomfortable and / or he may be subject to such a complaint. “
As a result of the investigation, LSU issued a letter of reprimand to Miles, and he was ordered to stop hiring student staff for babysitting and was not allowed to be alone with them.
The report finally determined that “LSU was unable to substantiate any legal breach,” according to a letter from the Taylor Porter law firm to Ginsberg, but “LSU concluded that Miles was involved in behavior that showed inappropriate judgment.
Miles, who is now the principal technician in Kansas, also had to attend eight hour sessions with a lawyer and pay for them himself.
A Kansas athletics spokesman told the Lawrence Journal-World that the university was reviewing the investigative report.
“We are also aware that LSU is issuing an additional report tomorrow (Friday), and we will wait to comment further until we have reviewed both documents,” the spokesman told Journal-World.
USA Today reported the widespread misuse of allegations of sexual misconduct by the athletic department and LSU management. As a result, LSU hired law firm Husch Blackwell in November to audit the treatment of dozens of cases of sexual misconduct since 2016.
The results of this investigation will be released on Friday.