The investigation into one of the NHL’s most high-profile franchises comes after the filing of two lawsuits against the team. The first alleges sexual assault by Aldrich during the team’s run to the 2010 Stanley Cup title, when he was an assistant coach there. The second was filed by a former student whom Aldrich was convicted of assaulting in Michigan.
After leaving the Blackhawks, Aldrich was convicted in 2013 in Michigan of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a student and is now on that state’s registry of sex offenders. That former student whom Aldrich was convicted of assaulting filed a separate lawsuit against the Blackhawks on May 26, saying the Blackhawks provided positive references to future employers of Aldrich despite allegations from at least one player and took no action to report the matter.
According to documents obtained by the Journal-News, a former Miami student filed a complaint with a different university’s campus police in 2018 regarding Aldrich.
In the student’s 2018 complaint to his then-university, he said an “attacker” unwantedly touched him at Miami in the fall of 2012 after the two had been drinking at an Oxford bar. The alleged offender’s name is redacted from the documents, but the reports were provided in response to a public records request for documents related to Aldrich and his employment at Miami.
“The identity of all uncharged suspects and all information that has a high probability of revealing the identity of an uncharged suspect has been redacted,” Miami said in a letter accompanying the public records response.
In the same letter, an attorney for the university wrote, “The University is aware of allegations of improper conduct by former employee Bradley Aldrich.”
The former student’s complaint to his university, whose name is also redacted, was forwarded to Miami University police in 2018.
“I’m not exactly sure how this works but I’m not looking to press charges or have any course of action come about against (the accused) nor Miami University,” the former student wrote. “I would, however, like something on record in case he ever does something like this again, particularly to children.”
In the former Miami student’s description, he said the two were drinking at a bar and the alleged offender said, “it would probably be easier if you just stay at my place.” The former student said he fell asleep on a sofa and when he woke up, something was happening that is heavily redacted in the report and he “shoved (redacted) off of him and walked home.”
In an Oct. 16, 2018 report from Miami’s Title IX Office, school officials noted the “accused individual was not provided access to report because no formal complaint was filed …”
The report said there were “no reports of imminent safety concerns at this time.”
Officials said emails sent to the former Miami student “went unanswered” and that Oxford police said on Sept. 14, 2018 “they did not have a report for this case.”
“Miami University will close case given that all attempts to reach (redacted) have gone unanswered, we have no information about the incident, and the accused is no longer employed at Miami University,” Miami officials wrote in 2018.
Miami has hired the law firm of Barnes & Thornburg LLP review Aldrich’s employment at Miami.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
About the Author
