Former UK swim coach asks judge to dismiss sexual abuse lawsuit, denies allegations
Former University of Kentucky swim coach Lars Jorgensen on Friday asked a judge to dismiss the federal lawsuit accusing him of a pattern of sexual abuse in the swim program that he led for a decade.
Jorgensen formally denied the allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault made public in April when two former UK swimmers and assistant swim coaches sued him, UK, Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart and former swim coach Gary Conelly, who hired Jorgensen in 2012 as his assistant and retired the next year.
In his written response to the suit, the 53-year-old Jorgensen denied the claims and asked U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell to dismiss the case.
In April, a lawyer who represented him at the time said Jorgensen was in consensual dating relationships with his accusers back when they worked for him as assistant coaches. Lawyers for the plaintiffs disputed that, and they indicated they have copies of confrontational text messages with the coach to support their version of events.
The plaintiffs allege Jorgensen repeatedly harassed and assaulted them and created a “toxic, sexually hostile environment” inside UK’s swim program while school officials looked the other way.
In their own responses to the suit, filed two weeks ago, UK, Barnhart and Conelly denied wrongdoing. UK also cited sovereign immunity, or the legal concept that governments generally can’t be sued or held responsible for damages, as it asked for several claims against it to be dismissed.
The Herald-Leader has reported that UK paid Jorgensen $75,000 to resign in June 2023 in a deal requiring public confidentiality by all parties, while he was under investigation inside the university on allegations of sexual abuse and NCAA training violations. Some of the sexual abuse allegations included those later mentioned in the suit.
The NCAA recently placed the swim team on two years of probation as a result of the training violations.
UK began receiving the first of several complaints about Jorgensen’s behavior toward women in his college swim programs on the day it hired him in 2012, but it did not take action against him, the Herald-Leader has reported.
He was promoted to head swimming and diving coach the next year.
