Report: Pitino Says He Had Consensual Sex With Accuser, Paid For Abortion

Sex, crime, abortion and basketball have combined into a huge story today in Kentucky, where college hoops dominates the sports landscape.

"Pitino Told Police He Had Consensual Sex With Sypher," the front page of Lousiville's Courier-Journal blares.

That would be Rick Pitino, the current b-ball coach at the University of Louisville and a former head coach at the University of Kentucky. The Courier-Journal's story begins this way:

University of Louisville men's basketball coach Rick Pitino told police that he had consensual sex with Karen Cunagin Sypher at a Louisville restaurant where he'd been drinking on Aug. 1, 2003.

He also told police that he later gave Sypher $3,000 to have an abortion, according to Louisville Metro Police reports The Courier-Journal obtained under the Kentucky Open Records Act.

But Pitino denied Sypher's allegations that he raped her at Porcini, after the restaurant closed, and again a few weeks later at a different location, police records show. And prosecutors who have reviewed Sypher's claims say Pitino won't be charged.

Sypher has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly trying to extort money from Pitino.

The Courier-Journal has extensive excerpts from the police interviews with Pitino and Sypher.