<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1585069278861.png" alt=" Nomin Ujiyediin / Kansas News Service " />
 <figcaption> Nomin Ujiyediin / Kansas News Service </figcaption>
 </figure>By ERICA HUNZINGER, <a href="https://www.kcur.org/post/ku-investigation-6-female-athletes-say-they-were-inappropriately-touched-massage-therapist#stream/0">Kansas News Service</a>At least six female athletes at the University of Kansas reported 
they experienced unwanted touching from a massage therapist who was 
recently charged with a child sex crime, the school said Tuesday.&nbsp;Investigators
 also discovered that an athletic trainer knew of “unwarranted and 
unwanted touching” by Shawn O’Brien, but the school said in an email to 
staff and students that the trainer did not “appropriately report the 
conduct, as it is required by the university.”KU started an 
internal investigation into O’Brien, 48, after he was charged with 
indecent liberties with a child younger than 14 in his home. The<a href="https://www2.ljworld.com/news/public-safety/2020/mar/01/lawrence-masseur-masked-molestation-affidavit-alleges/" target="_blank"> Lawrence Journal-World</a> has reported that the incident occurred in 2013, but the child didn’t tell a state social worker until 2018.According to <a href="https://www.kcur.org/sites/kcur/files/kucontracts.shawno_brien.pdf" target="_blank">contracts between O’Brien and the KU athletics department</a>
 obtained by the Kansas News Service, O’Brien provided massage services 
starting in 2012 for the women’s basketball team. That eventually 
expanded to tennis, softball and soccer. His contracts were terminated 
earlier this year when KU learned of the sex-crime charge.The 
school also said that O’Brien, who owned a massage business in Lawrence,
 provided free massages to the student population at the KU Alumni 
Association’s Finals Dinner beginning in 2011 and as recently as fall 
2019. O’Brien also provided gift cards for off-campus massages at his 
business in Lawrence, Medissage-Kamehameha Massage, LLC. KU said that 
local police are investigating.O’Brien’s lawyer, Philip R. 
Sedgwick of Kansas City, Kansas, told the Kansas News Service on Tuesday
 that his client denies the new allegations, as well as the charge 
O’Brien faces in Douglas County District Court.&nbsp;“I’m certain 
that we’ll be able to present that when it comes to trial,” Sedgwick 
said, adding, “I think it’s sad we tend to presume he’s guilty.”KU Chancellor Doug Girod and Athletics Director Jeff Long said in&nbsp;<a href="https://chancellor.ku.edu/news/2020/mar24" target="_blank">the release</a> that the school has interviewed nearly 40 student-athletes and seven staff members. It has filed <a href="https://studentaid.gov/data-center/school/clery-act-reports" target="_blank">Clery Ac</a>t
 reports for all of the allegations of unwanted touching. The Clery Act 
requires colleges and universities that receive federal funds to keep 
and disclose crime statistics.Other universities have faced scandals regarding medical staff and athletes, notably<a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/09/05/757909245/michigan-state-university-to-pay-4-5-million-fine-over-larry-nassar-scandal" target="_blank"> Michigan State</a>,
 where a doctor who also worked for USA Gymnastics admitted sexually 
assaulting female patients for decades, and Ohio State, where a 
physician sexually abused<a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/05/20/former-ohio-state-doctor-abused-nearly-200-young-men-no-consequences-decades" target="_blank"> male student-athletes</a>.KU
 is asking for anyone affiliated with the school who has information 
about O’Brien to contact its Office of Institutional Opportunity &amp; 
Access or KU Public Safety. It also said its “numerous protocols” in 
reporting inappropriate behavior were “not followed,” and the school is 
“committed to strengthening education efforts of all staff and 
student-athletes in this area of mandatory reporting.”Stephan Bisaha reports on education and young adult life for KMUW and the Kansas News Service. You can follow him on Twitter&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/stevebisaha?lang=en" target="_blank">@stevebisaha</a>.&nbsp;Erica Hunzinger is the news editor for the Kansas News Service. You can follow her on Twitter&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/ehunzinger">@ehunzinger</a>.

KU: 6 athletes say they were inappropriately touched by massage therapist