Butler's sports director Ralph Reiff had ties to Larry Nassar

Before he began working at Butler University, overseeing the staff that provided athletic treatment to female student-athletes, assistant athletic director Ralph Reiff worked “side by side” with Larry Nassar, the disgraced USA Gymnastics doctor who sexually abused hundreds of women and girls, according to documents filed Friday in federal court.

But according to amended complaints filed by four Butler soccer players in the federal lawsuits, Reiff failed to learn from that experience and took no steps to protect the vulnerable athletes from sexual abuse by a former coach.

The two women filed separate lawsuits in federal court last year, claiming they were manipulated and sexually abused by Michael Howell, the university’s former athletic trainer. They accused Howell of conducting hour-long massage sessions that escalated to groping in Butler’s training room, offices, buses and Howell’s private hotel rooms during trips. They claimed Howell secretly took photos and videos of athletes and tried to silence a victim by threatening to reveal potentially incriminating information.

The women also accused the university and Reiff of not having policies in place regarding the conduct of athletic trainers and of not adequately supervising Howell.

Butler and Reiff, through their attorney, argued in court filings Friday that their actions were not “the proximate cause” of Howell’s misconduct and they could not have foreseen the alleged abuse.

But according to the new complaints, Butler’s security chief John Conley sent a message to university officials shortly after the women’s appearance: “I think we could answer the question: ‘Have we learned nothing from the Sandusky or Olympic Doctor cases?'”

Although the new complaints do not contain an answer, they do provide insight into women’s opinions.

“It is clear that the defendant Reiff refused to learn from his professional relationship with the most notorious serial sexual abuser of female athletes,” the indictment states.

In an emailed statement to IndyStar, Butler said, “Ralph Reiff’s involvement with USA Gymnastics occurred while he was an employee of St. Vincent’s, and therefore St. Vincent’s is in a better position to comment on the relationship between St. Vincent’s and USA Gymnastics. Ralph Reiff’s full and comprehensive statement – not cherry-picked language – makes clear that he did not have a close working relationship with Larry Nassar.”

The female athletes, identified in court records as Jane Does 1-4, came forward in fall 2021. University officials notified police, removed Howell from campus and suspended him after learning of the allegations, a Butler spokesperson told IndyStar last year. The university later launched an investigation into a Title IX complaint against Howell. During that investigation, Reiff and other staff members acknowledged that Butler did not have written policies or procedures governing how coaches should work with athletes of the opposite sex, the women claimed.

Allegations of sexual assault against Butler:Athletes say sexual assault by coaches occurred “frequently” and over a “long period of time”

The women’s lawyers said in court filings Friday that they uncovered Reiff’s ties to Nassar after reviewing thousands of pages of evidence, including documents from the Title IX investigation. Reiff admitted during his Title IX interview that he worked “elbow to elbow” with Nassar at Karolyi Ranch, a longtime USA Gymnastics training facility in Huntsville, Texas, where a former doctor had assaulted several athletes. Reiff also said Nassar was “an expert at hiding things.”

The amended complaints quote Butler’s security chief, John Conley, as telling university officials shortly after the women came forward: “I think we could answer the question: ‘Have we learned nothing from the Sandusky or Olympic Doctor cases?'”

“It is clear that the defendant Reiff refused to learn from his professional relationship with the most notorious serial sexual abuser of female athletes,” the indictment states.

“It is clear that the defendant Reiff refused to give up anything from his

IndyStar Investigates:How IndyStar helped expose Larry Nassar’s crimes at USA Gymnastics and MSU

Reiff served as executive director of St. Vincent Sports Performance for 20 years before joining Butler in 2019. While at St. Vincent, Reiff served on the USA Gymnastics Medical Task Force, which was created to develop and monitor medical services and practices for athletes provided by doctors like Nassar, according to the complaints.

Reiff told Title IX investigators that he also trained and traveled with Jared Fogle, the notorious former Subway spokesman who is in prison for child pornography, and that he worked with Marvin Sharp, an Indianapolis gymnastics coach who committed suicide in prison for child pornography.

Contact IndyStar reporter Kristine Phillips at (317) 444-3026 or [email protected].

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