PEORIA — The director of Bradley University's most celebrated program, which has achieved an unmatched record on the national stage, no longer occupies the helm of the Bradley Speech Team in the wake of an investigation into sexual assault allegations.

Ken Young, a Bradley alum who became director of the forensics program at the Slane College of Communications and Fine Arts in 2013, resigned Friday after a months-long investigation into an allegation of sexual assault from about a decade ago at a different university out of state, according to multiple sources inside and outside the university who agreed to speak about it on condition of anonymity.

"Ken Young has resigned from Bradley in order to spend more time with his family," a university spokeswoman wrote in response to questions from the Journal Star. "Beyond that we have no comment."

The university would not confirm an investigation into allegations of sexual assault, citing policy on personnel matters. Young did not respond to requests for comment sent Thursday. Justin Helmley, the assistant director of forensics who sources said has been named the interim director, also did not respond.

Bradley includes effusive praise for the forensics program on promotional material, including this Associated Press superlative: "the most successful extracurricular team in history."

Young was inducted into the National Forensics Association Hall of Fame in 2016, just 11 years after graduating from Bradley with a bachelor of science degree in communications with a concentration in public relations.

As part of his role with the Bradley Speech Team, Young also directed the Summer Forensics Institute, a public speaking program for high school students that is run as a summer camp. The web page ends Young's bio with a description of his extensive experience with those programs.

"Ken has worked with high school students from all across the country serving as a consultant and as the head of oral interpretation curricula for teams and institutes in Illinois, Texas, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and California," the site reads.

It was during one of those camps at the University of Texas at Austin that the alleged sexual assault occurred. The victim was a fellow counselor at the camp about a decade ago, according to the sources and an account written by the victim that was posted on social media last fall as part of the #MeToo movement.

The alleged victim could not be reached for comment. The text of the post, which was provided to the Journal Star by a source connected to the Bradley team and the greater speech team community across the country, did not identify Young by name.

The woman wrote that she was a 23-year-old counselor with Young when his alleged sexually suggestive comments and actions culminated with him coming into her dorm room uninvited while she slept after a night of drinking and assaulted her.

The post alleged that she screamed when he wouldn't stop, and another person who had been asleep in the room awoke, interrupting the situation.

That witness reported the incident to the camp director the next day, and the victim confirmed the account when approached by the director, but the victim also said she did not want to press charges, according to the post.

"The man who sexually assaulted me is now a celebrated director of one of the top ranking speech programs in the nation. I competed for a different, but also top ranking program, so the circles are pretty small," she wrote in the post. "I can’t put into words what it feels like to be perceived as rude for not giving the man who sexually assaulted me a standing ovation for hosting a speech tournament."

The sources confirmed the woman's account was the foundation for the investigation. It was not clear whether other complaints were investigated as part of the case.

Matt Buedel can be reached at 686-3154 or mbuedel@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @JournoBuedel.