Oro Valley couple countersues ex-Cat Josh Pastner, alleging sexual assault and intimidation

Feb. 09--Last month, Josh Pastner sued an Oro Valley couple, saying they defamed him after several failed blackmail attempts. On Thursday, the couple fired back with a counterclaim alleging that the former Arizona Wildcats basketball player and coach sexually assaulted one of them.

Ron Bell and Jennifer Pendley say that in February 2016, Pastner forced Pendley to perform a sex act in a Houston hotel room, according to the counterclaim to Pastner's lawsuit, both of which were filed in Pima County Superior Court.

Pendley has not reported the allegations to police, but said Thursday that she is considering it. She said she was initially fearful of Pastner and that her former attorney had advised against it.

Bell and Pendley's current attorney, Paul Gattone, said law enforcement and the Pima County Attorney's Office now have all the information they need to investigate.

Pastner, now the head coach at Georgia Tech, issued a statement through his attorney shortly after the filing, denying the sexual assault and calling Pendley's counterclaim "malicious."

"There was no sexual assault," the statement said. "It is a lie."

The counterclaim alleges that between mid-February and early March of 2016, and after the alleged sexual assault, Pastner grabbed Pendley against her will and whispered obscenities in her ear 11 times.

Bell and Pendley didn't see Pastner between April and October 2016, the counterclaim says, but met up with the coach -- then in his first year at Georgia Tech -- for a November game against Sam Houston State. There, the counterclaim states, Pastner grabbed Pendley's rear end while she was walking up the stairs to leave the arena. When Pendley reached the top of the stairs, Pastner pushed her against a wall, running his hand down the front of her body, the courterclaim says. Pendley ran to the bathroom and cried, the counterclaim states. Upon exiting, Pendley was approached by a security guard who told her he saw what had happened.

Gattone told the Star Thursday night that co-counsel Ashley Gilpin recorded an interview with the security guard, who corroborates Pendley's story.

The counterclaim says the harassing behavior continued until Pendley reported the assault to her doctor last August. The doctor subsequently referred her to a counselor and psychiatrist, according to the counterclaim. She told Bell about the assault in October, the claim says; on Dec. 20, Pendley sent notice of the sexual assault and battery to Pastner and his attorneys.

As a result of the assault and abuse, Pendley has suffered nightmares, depression and anxiety, the counterclaim says. The suit also alleges intentional infliction of emotional distress and assault and battery. In the claim, Pendley says Pastner threatened harm if she reported the incidents to police. Pastner told her, according to the suit, that he knew powerful people who would make her life "a living hell."

On Thursday, attorneys for Bell and Pendley also filed a response to Pastner's defamation suit, in which they "categorically deny all allegations," Gattone said.

"The lawsuit was clearly meant to be a hammer to silence them," Gattone said.

Pendley broke down in tears outside of Pima County Superior Court after the claim was filed. She said the current climate helped her come forward.

"It's very hard when something like this happens, because you think you're the only person this has happened to," Pendley said. "Hearing from other women gives me the strength to come out and say, 'Don't let people stop you (from reporting) or bully you.'"

Scott Tompsett, Pastner's attorney, said the filing wasn't a surprise given his client's recent history with Bell and Pendley.

"Josh sued Jennifer and Ron Bell last month because of their monthslong attempt to defame and extort him, and because we anticipated they would not stop, but instead would continue their malicious lies," Tompsett said in the statement.

For years after the alleged assault, Pendley "proactively and enthusiastically" initiated communication and contact with Pastner and his wife, including attending games, visiting the Pastners' home and publicly making positive statements about Pastner, the statement said.

Bell and Pendley started alleging assault after a failed scheme to blackmail Pastner with claims that he knowingly broke NCAA rules, the coach's lawyer said.

"Our complaint shows that Mr. Bell is a career criminal with multiple felony arrests and convictions, and a long history of dishonest and antisocial behavior," the statement said, adding that Bell -- and not Pendley -- was the first one to allege sexual assault.

Bell previously served several years in prison for charges related to prescription drug abuse. He was released in 2014. Last year, Oro Valley police visited Bell and Pendley after her family said Bell was refusing to let her leave the house.

Pendley told police that she "had not been fully free to leave the home when she wanted" but the situation had improved, according to the police report. The case was closed due to lack of evidence.

"We are confident evidence will show ... the truth about the abusive and dysfunctional relationship between Mr. Bell and Ms. Pendley, and the nefarious reasons for their malicious lies about Josh, will be fully revealed in court and before a jury," Pastner's lawyer's statement said.

Pastner will continue to pursue his lawsuit against Bell and Pendley and will cooperate with law enforcement's investigations of the couple, his lawyer said.

"In this era of women courageously coming forward to report valid claims of sexual assault and harassment, we are saddened and outraged that Mr. Bell and Ms. Pendley have concocted a malicious lie to blackmail and to harm a family that showed only compassion toward him," the statement said.

Before Georgia Tech, Pastner, 40, coached at Memphis from 2009-16. He spent the 2002-08 seasons as an assistant to Arizona's Lute Olson. As a player, Pastner was a member of the Wildcats' 1997 national championship team.

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Contact reporter Caitlin Schmidt at cschmidt@tucson.com or at 573-4191. On Twitter: @caitlincschmidt.

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