Kentucky swimming

Lancaster Aquatic Center. Photo by Chet White | UK Athletics

 Chet White

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Former University of Kentucky swim coach Gary Conelly, who was among several university officials named in a Title IX sexual assault lawsuit against the school, was dismissed from the suit by U.S. judge Karen Caldwell, with the consent of the plaintiffs.

The notice came at the end of an order extending the time for plaintiffs Briggs Alexander and another filing anonymously to respond to a university motion to dismiss to their complaint. The suit alleges a long pattern of sexual abuse by former UK swim coach Lars Jorgensen and a lack of appropriate response by UK athletics and the school's Title IX office when complaints were brought.

Megan Bonanni, an attorney for plaintiffs, noted that Conelly was dropped voluntarily from the suit.

"The plaintiffs in this case voluntarily dismissed Gary Conelly from the lawsuit. However, this does not absolve him of any misconduct," she said in a statement provided by the firm of Pitt McGehee Palmer Bonanni & Rivers. "Instead, it shifts the responsibility for his actions to his former employer, the University of Kentucky. We fully expect Mr. Conelly to serve as a key witness in our case against the University of Kentucky, Lars Jorgensen, and (Kentucky athletics director) Mitch Barnhart."

Conelly, who was Kentucky's swim coach when Jorgensen was hired as associate swim coach in June 2012, was informed at the time by someone at Jorgensen's former school that he had been engaged in an inappropriate sexual relationship with one of his swimmers. When he followed up on that allegation with the school, he was assured by multiple parties, including one believed to be the subject of the alleged wrongdoing, that there was, in fact, no misconduct.

Conelly was accused in the complaint of failing to follow up adequately on the initial allegations, thereby allowing a situation to exist in which future abuse could occur.

Connelly, who left UK in the spring of 2013, had asked the court to dismiss any claims against him on various legal grounds, including that the plaintiffs had waited until after the statute of limitations to file their claim, that he did not show "deliberate indifference" and in fact was not aware of any inappropriate conduct by Jorgensen prior to his tenure at UK nor while he was at UK, that the plaintiffs' claim did not establish "intentional discrimination" in a Fourteenth Amendment equal protection claim and that the complaint did not establish sufficient facts to strip Conelly of qualified federal or state immunity, as an employee of a state institution.

The judge's order simply dismissed Conelly from the suit with prejudice in a one-sentence response.

Conelly, now 72, lives in Brandenton, Florida, which has been battered by both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton in recent weeks. He was the swim coach at Kentucky for 22 years.

In a Facebook post Tuesday, he said, "Today I got official notice that I am no longer a part of the ugly lawsuit against (the University of Kentucky) and the coach who took over after I left. The whole thing was very unpleasant. It was pretty revolting to be even tangentially involved in the big ugly mess. I was dismissed from the case with prejudice, meaning they can't change their minds and drag me back into that nasty circus. So now I can return my focus to being retired and battling hurricanes."

The deadline for the plaintiffs to answer the university's motion to dismiss was extended until Nov. 8. The university has until Dec. 6 to respond to that.

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