Women's soccer players file lawsuits against Butler, accuse ex-trainer of sexual assault

Two current women's soccer players at Butler and a former player at the school filed lawsuits Wednesday accusing the team's former trainer of sexually assaulting them and numerous other members of the team, according to copies of the complaints.

The assaults took place during massages that lasted multiple hours and were “perpetrated’’ by the trainer, Michael Howell, according to the lawsuits, which refer to the plaintiffs as Jane Does.

The Athletic was the first to report the lawsuits.

During one massage, according to Jane Doe 1’s complaint, “Howell began massaging her neck, but he quickly moved down to Ms. Doe’s hips and groin, massaged her under her shorts, touched her pubic hair, and rubbed her so forcefully that her groin was bruised and painful the next day.

“Multiple versions of this and other gross misconduct were perpetrated upon Ms. Doe, causing her substantial emotional, physical, and other injuries and damages. Unfortunately, Howell perpetrated similar misconduct on other athletes.’’

Some of the massages took place in the trainer’s private hotel room at away games, according to the lawsuits.

Butler said it notified law enforcement, removed Howell from campus and suspended him from his job duties, pending investigation, upon being informed of the allegations in September 2021. After a thorough investigation and hearing, according to the school, the trainer was found responsible for violating university policies and terminated in the summer of 2022, according to the school.

"The health, safety, and well-being of our campus community is always our top priority,'' Butler said in a statement provided to USA TODAY Sports. "...Butler looks forward to the opportunity to show the high integrity and responsiveness of the coaches and senior personnel.  Because the complaints do not name the plaintiffs and they have not waived federal student privacy protections, Butler is limited from further comment outside of the legal process."

The investigation of Howell took place after Jane Doe 1 and five other ‘’young women’’ informed the school of Howell’s misconduct, including the fact that he was surreptitiously photographing and videotaping athletes, according to the complaints.

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The named defendants in the lawsuits are the university; Ralph Reiff, Butler’s Senior Associate Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Health, Performance and Well-Being; and Howell.

The women are suing for negligence, gross negligence, battery, assault, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Howell was hired by Butler as an assistant athletic trainer in the spring of 2012. During his tenure of almost a decade at the school, he worked with women's soccer, baseball, men's and women's golf, men's tennis and the cheerleading teams, according to the lawsuits.