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Pitino Acknowledges Sypher Encounter In Police Interview

University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino told police last month that he had consensual sex in a restaurant in 2003 with Karen Cunigan Sypher, who's now accused of trying to extort the coach.                 

That's according to a Louisville Metro Police report obtained by the Courier-Journal under the Kentucky Open Records Act.Pitino also said he gave the woman $3,000 for an abortion several weeks later when she told him she was pregnant.The 56 year old Pitino was interviewed by police after Sypher, 49, claimed that Pitino raped her at the Louisville restaurant, Porcini, and later at another location.Jefferson County Commonwealth Attorney David Stengel announced last month that no charges would be filed against Pitino, saying Sypher's allegations were "void of credibility and lacking any supporting evidence."

Sypher has pleaded not guilty in the extortion case and is awaiting trial.

Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.