Police: Curtis Blackwell 'interfered' with MSU football sex assault investigation

Matt Mencarini | Lansing State Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption 3 MSU football players charged; get to know who they are A judge authorized charges Tuesday against three MSU football players: Josh King, Donnie Corley and Demetric Vance.

EAST LANSING - Michigan State University police walked former football staff member Curtis Blackwell out of the football building in handcuffs in early February, minutes after determining that he interfered with their investigation of a reported on-campus sexual assault weeks earlier.

Blackwell told investigators he had spoken with two players later identified as suspects about the incident days after it occurred on Jan. 16. That was before MSU police and the university's Title IX office knew about the alleged involvement of the two players, records show.

Blackwell didn't tell police or university officials about his discussions with the players until police interviewed him Feb. 8 at the Duffy Daugherty Building.

In a report submitted to prosecutors, which the State Journal obtained through an open records request, police wrote that Blackwell "took it upon himself to investigate" the incident, interviewed suspects and did not share that information he received with police or MSU's Title IX office.

"I wasn't doing an investigation or anything," Blackwell told police. "I was just trying to find out exactly what happened."

He told police he was trying to determine if the sex was consensual, according to the report. Police took Blackwell into custody and seized two cell phones from him.

Blackwell has not been charged with a crime.

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A message was left seeking comment from Blackwell's attorney, Frank Reynolds.

On Feb. 9, the day after police interviewed Blackwell and other MSU coaches, the university announced that three football players and a staff member associated with the team, later identified as Blackwell, had been suspended amid a sexual assault investigation. Blackwell was suspended the same day.

Last week, Ingham County Prosecutor Carol Siemon authorized sexual assault charges against Josh King, 19, Donnie Corley, 19, and Demetric Vance, 20. The three players were dismissed from the team following the issuance of charges.

The prosecutor's office said in February MSU police had also requested an obstructing-an-investigation charge for a football staff member, now known to be Blackwell.

Siemon did not authorize that charge. At the time, Siemon said she determined criminal charges weren't warranted. Siemon did not immediately return a message seeking comment for this story.

Last month, head coach Mark Dantonio decided not to renew Blackwell’s contract, which was set to expire May 31 after twice being extended a month at a time. Dantonio said his decision was "basically a philosophical change" and was made before he saw a report from the law firm Jones Day, which has been hired by the university to investigate the football program's handing of the reported sexual assault.

Jones Day attorneys did not interview Blackwell, who declined to participate in the investigation, but determined there was evidence that Blackwell, who wasn't named in the report, violated university policy.

MSU spokesman Jason Cody declined to comment on the details in the police reports.

The police reports the State Journal obtained relate to the criminal investigation of Blackwell. While they include some details of discussions he had with players or their parents about the reported sexual assault, they do not include statements from King, Corley, Vance or the reported victim to police. Large sections of the police reports provided to the State Journal have been redacted, and Blackwell's name is the only non-police name not redacted.

According to the police reports:

Police interviewed Blackwell and three other football coaches on Feb. 8, believing that the coaches had received information about the incident or investigation.

Blackwell told police that on Jan. 16, a football player told him he had been at a party in the early hours of that day and found a girl in the bathroom "distraught and messed up." Blackwell told police he assumed the incident was sexual in nature.

The player told Blackwell he took the girl home and she was "still in pain."

Blackwell communicated through text messages with one of the suspects' fathers about the incident in the days after it occurred.

The incident occurred on Jan. 16, but police weren't aware that two of the players, whose names were redacted in reports, were involved until Jan. 31, when investigators found a "suspicious text message thread."

Police obtained search warrants for several emails accounts associated with Blackwell and found "several emails of interest." Those emails weren't included in a response to the State Journal's record request.

The police investigation also included search warrants for 12 SnapChat accounts and several cell phones, including at least one related to Blackwell.

Det. Chad Davis, of the MSU Police Department, testified at a hearing that led to charges that during the Jan. 16 party, King pulled the reported victim into a bathroom and tried to get her to have sex with him.

"The victim said that King forced (her) to perform oral sex on him," then "pulled her pants down" and had vaginal sex with her, Davis testified.

At some point, King let Vance and Corley into the bathroom at separate times, the detective added, and each forced her to perform oral sex on them.

King is charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct, third-degree criminal sexual conduct and capturing an image of an unclothed person. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.

Corley and Vance each are charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct and face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Contact Matt Mencarini at (517) 267-1347 or mmencarini@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattMencarini.