[FONT="]On the evening of March 15, 1996, the woman told police that two men burst into the upscale hotel room where she was sleeping and took turns violently sexually assaulting her, according to court records and a news account at the time. They were arrested, charged and later indicted by a grand jury on one count of aggravated sexual assault — but they never stood trial and were not convicted.[/FONT]
[FONT="]One of the indicted men was 21-year-old Matt Patricia, who was hired as the head coach of the National Football League’s Detroit Lions in February. The other, his friend and captain of RPI’s football team, Greg Dietrich, 22.Although both men have gone on to successful careers, the relevance of even old and untried charges raises questions for the Lions at the height of the “Me Too” movement, which has brought new scrutiny to sexual misconduct allegations.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The indictment remained an untold part of Patricia’s past during his rise in the coaching ranks, and the Lions said it eluded them during a background check that only searched for criminal convictions.[/FONT]
[FONT="]When approached by The Detroit News, team president Rod Wood initially said “I don’t know anything about this” — but hours later said his review of the situation only reinforced the team’s decision to hire Patricia.[/FONT]
[FONT="]“I am very comfortable with the process of interviewing and employing Matt,” Wood said. “I will tell you with 1,000-percent certainty that everything I’ve learned confirmed what I already knew about the man and would have no way changed our decision to make him our head coach.”[/FONT]
[FONT="]Wood also said the woman recanted the sexual assault allegations multiple times — a claim not substantiated by existing records or lawyers for Patricia and his fraternity brother.One of Patricia’s defense lawyers said he believes the alleged assault never happened.[/FONT]
[FONT="]“In my opinion, it was a fabrication,” attorney Jeff Wilson said. “I’m telling you it was a ‘he said, she said.’ I don’t know what type of problems the girl was having; I don’t know why she made that allegation. We vehemently denied that he was doing anything wrong or did anything wrong.”[/FONT]
[FONT="]There are no legal prohibitions against requesting or considering past criminal charges for employment in Michigan, although federal civil rights guidance discourages holding an unsubstantiated charge against an applicant.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Patricia, 43, and Lions general manager Bob Quinn were not available for an interview about the indictment Wednesday.[/FONT]
[FONT="]One of the indicted men was 21-year-old Matt Patricia, who was hired as the head coach of the National Football League’s Detroit Lions in February. The other, his friend and captain of RPI’s football team, Greg Dietrich, 22.Although both men have gone on to successful careers, the relevance of even old and untried charges raises questions for the Lions at the height of the “Me Too” movement, which has brought new scrutiny to sexual misconduct allegations.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The indictment remained an untold part of Patricia’s past during his rise in the coaching ranks, and the Lions said it eluded them during a background check that only searched for criminal convictions.[/FONT]
[FONT="]When approached by The Detroit News, team president Rod Wood initially said “I don’t know anything about this” — but hours later said his review of the situation only reinforced the team’s decision to hire Patricia.[/FONT]
[FONT="]“I am very comfortable with the process of interviewing and employing Matt,” Wood said. “I will tell you with 1,000-percent certainty that everything I’ve learned confirmed what I already knew about the man and would have no way changed our decision to make him our head coach.”[/FONT]
[FONT="]Wood also said the woman recanted the sexual assault allegations multiple times — a claim not substantiated by existing records or lawyers for Patricia and his fraternity brother.One of Patricia’s defense lawyers said he believes the alleged assault never happened.[/FONT]
[FONT="]“In my opinion, it was a fabrication,” attorney Jeff Wilson said. “I’m telling you it was a ‘he said, she said.’ I don’t know what type of problems the girl was having; I don’t know why she made that allegation. We vehemently denied that he was doing anything wrong or did anything wrong.”[/FONT]
[FONT="]There are no legal prohibitions against requesting or considering past criminal charges for employment in Michigan, although federal civil rights guidance discourages holding an unsubstantiated charge against an applicant.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Patricia, 43, and Lions general manager Bob Quinn were not available for an interview about the indictment Wednesday.[/FONT]
