Vance Joseph, the Denver Broncos’ new head coach, was accused of sexually assaulting two female trainers in 2003 while he was an assistant coach at the University of Colorado — allegations that were investigated by the state task force looking into the recruiting scandal that rocked CU in the early 2000s.
One of the victims of the alleged assault told Boulder police that she and her friend were “not the only women that VJ (Joseph) was getting in trouble for,” according to a report summarizing a detective’s 2004 interview with the woman.
Joseph was not arrested or charged in the case; one of the women declined to speak to police, and the other told detectives she didn’t want to press charges.
The Broncos did not make Joseph available for questions Saturday, but acknowledged the team knew of the sexual assault allegations.
“While we were aware of these accusations, he was not charged with anything from the report filed in 2004,” Patrick Smyth, the Broncos’ vice president of public relations, said Saturday evening.
The team on Thursday had acknowledged 2005 press reports that Joseph was investigated for sexual harassment, saying, “This issue was resolved administratively nearly 15 years ago, and he’s moved forward from it.”
Ryan Huff, spokesman for CU’s Boulder campus, on Saturday said he could not respond to the allegations of sexual assault.
“Speaking generally and not about a specific case, I can’t comment because state law prohibits the release of any university records of sexual misconduct cases or information regarding personnel decisions,” Huff said.
CU trainer alleges sexual assault
According to police records obtained by the Daily Camera, a Boulder detective was asked in March 2004 to locate two potential sexual assault victims as part of the Colorado attorney general’s task force investigating claims that CU’s athletic department used sex and alcohol in recruiting football players.
The woman who agreed to speak to police — both were CU trainers — told a detective that Joseph had sexually assaulted her and the other woman some time in 2003.
The woman told police that she and her friend were out at what was then The Foundry in downtown Boulder when they saw Joseph, who would have been 30 at the time. Neither of the two had dated him, but the woman said they had socialized with him before in groups.
According to the police report, the woman said Joseph bought them drinks, and that they then went back to a house, where she said they continued to drink, and where they also smoked marijuana.
The woman told police that, at some point, she went to bed, but woke to find Joseph had entered the bedroom, taken off his clothes and gotten into bed with her while he was naked. She said he began “touching her all over with his hands and rubbed his body against her,” according to the police report.
The woman said she pretended to be passed out, and that Joseph eventually left the room.
The next morning, according to the police report, the woman’s friend told her Joseph had done the same thing to her, and that her friend had told him to “get the hell out.”
The woman told police Joseph had been drinking and smoking marijuana, but “knew exactly what he was doing,” according to the report, and added: “He’s just a sleazeball.”
The woman said she did not want to press charges because she was “fine and could handle herself.” But she said she thought Joseph should lose his job over the incident and was happy there was a sexual harassment investigation into Joseph. She told the detective that she knew she and her friend “are not the only women that VJ (Joseph) was getting in trouble for,” according to the report.
State investigation into CU athletics
While Boulder police did not pursue charges in that case, the reports and interviews detailing the allegations against Joseph were given to the state grand jury that investigated the recruiting scandal, a source with knowledge of the case told the Daily Camera.
A sealed report issued by the state grand jury, which leaked in 2005, included an allegation by two female trainers that they were sexually assaulted by a CU assistant coach. The grand jury did not name the coach.
Joseph played for the CU Buffs from 1990 to 1995, primarily as a quarterback, and then returned to the school as an assistant coach in 1999 under Gary Barnett after a brief stint as a player in the NFL.
But Joseph’s career at CU ended in 2004 under a cloud of suspicion, as he was suspended and then left the team for a position with Bowling Green.
The reason for the suspension was not given at the time.
Civil suit, sexual harassment investigation
Former CU President Elizabeth Hoffman, in a deposition released in 2005, said Joseph had been under investigation for sexual harassment after he went home with two CU trainers and had sex with another trainer in a steam room.
Hoffman’s deposition was released in federal court filings from two women who sued the university, claiming they were sexually assaulted by athletes and recruits during the Dec. 7, 2001, party that sparked the CU scandal.
Lisa Simpson and Anne Gilmore claimed the university created a hostile environment for women that led to their rapes.
In the deposition, Hoffman — who did not respond to a request for comment for this story — said: “We have no reason to believe that it was not consensual, but since he is a coach, we consider that it was probable or possible sexual harassment, so we followed our sexual harassment protocols.”
The 2004 police report does not mention the steam room incident, but the trainer who was interviewed said her encounter with Joseph was not consensual.
Joseph left the school during the sexual harassment investigation. Most recently a defensive coordinator with the Miami Dolphins, Joseph was hired Wednesday as the 16th head coach of the Broncos following the retirement of Gary Kubiak
Scandal’s toll on CU
The state grand jury that investigated the CU recruiting scandal issued only one indictment in the case. Nathan Maxcey, a former recruiting aide at CU, was sentenced to one year of unsupervised probation and 48 hours of community service after admitting to soliciting a prostitute and official misconduct.
Despite only one indictment, the scandal shook CU and its football program, resulting in the resignations or terminations of Hoffman, Barnett, Athletic Director Dick Tharp and Chancellor Richard Bynyy.
Simpson and Gilmore settled their lawsuits with CU — Simpson for $2.5 million, Gilmore for $350,000 — and under the terms of the settlement, CU also appointed an independent Title IX adviser for five years and hired an additional part-time counselor to work in the Office of Victim Assistance on campus.
Mitchell Byars: 303-473-1329, byarsm@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/mitchellbyars.
