Kate Murphy

kmurphy@enquirer.com

Former Northern Kentucky University Athletic Director Scott Eaton was released on parole last week, after serving two years of his 10-year prison sentence for felony theft.

Eaton pleaded guilty in April 2014 to embezzling $311,000 from NKU using a university-issued credit card. He used his NKU credit card to buy Kroger gift cards and kept reimbursements from personal expenditures while managing the $8.5 million athletic department budget, according to previous Enquirer reporting.

Eaton was released on parole from the Campbell County Detention Center in Newport on July 27. He must pay the court ordered restitution of $311,215 in monthly payments of $250 and "seek substance abuse evaluation in the community and follow all treatment recommendations," an Enquirer review of public records shows.

The Kentucky Department of Corrections and the Kentucky Parole Board declined to comment on the reasons behind the decision to release him.

He was eligible for parole in May and there are still five years left on his minimum sentence, corrections department records show.

Former NKU AD accepts 10-year prison sentence

Stealing money wasn't Eaton's only infraction against the university

Eaton was fired from NKU in March 2013, after having inappropriate sexual relationships with four women who worked at NKU and an adult student.

He worked as an administrator in NKU's athletic department since 1998 and became the athletic director in 2009 to lead the university's expansion into Division I athletics. For nearly a decade, no NKU officials were aware the 49-year-old married man with four children was sleeping with his colleagues.

NKU President Geoff Mearns, a former federal prosecutor, wasn't on the job long before he heard the news. The Enquirer previously reported he conducted the initial investigation and within a couple of days had enough information to suspend Eaton for violating NKU's ethics policy. He fired the Eaton one week later and immediately launched a financial review of the athletic department, which uncovered the theft.

Eaton's tainted record extended to include a settlement with former NKU associate athletic director for compliance Chrissy Soards who signed the agreement two days after Eaton was fired. The Enquirer found NKU paid her nearly a quarter of a million dollars to avoid a potential sexual harassment lawsuit and ensure her silence on the matter. She resigned later that month. It was the only such settlement NKU reached in the wake of the Eaton scandal, according to The Enquirer's previous reporting.

Messages left with Eaton's lawyer, Ben Dusing, and Kentucky Department of Corrections spokeswoman Lisa Lamb were not immediately returned.

NKU paid former worker $200K to avoid sex lawsuit

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