Former Chicago Blackhawks coach threatened player with baseball bat, lawsuit alleges
New details have emerged in the sexual assault lawsuit against former Chicago Blackhawks video coach Bradley Aldrich.
Two lawsuits were amended and filed against the Blackhawks on Thursday, the same day that general manager Stan Bowman agreed to cooperate with ongoing investigations. Aldrich forced the victim to have nonconsensual sex and threatened him with a baseball bat, according to allegations in the lawsuit obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Aldrich was accused of sexual assault by a former player in June. The lawsuit said the incident in question occurred in May 2010.
The new details say Aldrich both verbally and physically threatened the victim, identified only as "John Doe 1," blocking the exit and brandishing a Chicago Cubs souvenir baseball bat and telling the player he'd "never play in the NHL" again. Aldrich "forcibly touch[ed]" Doe 1 and performed other "lewd and lascivious" acts, according to the lawsuit.
Doe 1 received continued harassing messages from Aldrich after the incident and was convinced by Hawks skills coach James Gary that he was responsible, the lawsuit alleges. Hawks executives were made aware of the situation by a different skills coach Paul Vincent, and chose to not contact police.
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The lawsuit also alleges that Aldrich "repeatedly invited young interns" to his private residence.
Aldrich is also in the midst of another lawsuit after confessing to sexually harassing a 16-year-old Michigan high school student in 2013. Both victims, Doe 1 and John Doe 2, are being represented by attorney Susan Loggans.
The amendment in that lawsuit is a new allegation that the Hawks provided a "positive review and/or employment verification" to Houghton High School, where Doe 2 attended and Aldrich was a volunteer coach.
The Hawks have hired an outside firm to conduct an independent investigation into both incidents.
Contact Emily Leiker at eleiker@usatoday.com or on Twitter @emleiker