NU Regent Jack Stark arrested for witness tampering

[Newbomb_Turk1]

Case connected to trainer charged with multiple counts of sexual assault

OMAHA, Neb. —
NU Regent Jack Stark faces felony witness tampering charges, connected to a sexual assault case prosecuted in Douglas County.

Stark, 74, faced a judge Wednesday on the charges, which were brought by the state's attorney general. Judge Thomas Harmon released him on his own recognizance.

Someone who answered Stark's phone number Wednesday evening said the regent had no comment, and referred questions to an attorney.

The allegations against Stark are that he interfered with a witness in August 2020. Court records connect the charges against him to the sexual assault case against Douglas Anders, who coached women in body-building.

Anders was convicted in the case and sentenced in April to up to 30 years in prison.

A police report reviewed by KETV NewsWatch 7 from the Anders case shows a character witness for the defense "received a text message from a person he knows and this person asked him not to testify in this case."

The police document referenced a supplemental report, which is not available for review by reporters.

Stark was elected to the Board of Regents in 2020. He was the longtime Husker Football psychologist during the team's championship years.

Former Omaha gym owner convicted of sexually assaulting teen girl he was training

A judge found a longtime Omaha gym owner guilty Tuesday of first-degree sexual assault after a teen victim alleged that he told her that sex would help speed her recovery

omaha.com

 

[Walleye79]

What the F is going in in Lincoln. Geezus

 

[Laner2]

Oh. My. Goodness.

 

[GBRforLife1]

What the F is going in in Lincoln. Geezus

Nothing. This was in Omaha.

 

[bmb81664]

So did Stark tell someone not to say the alleged rapist is a good guy?

 

[Huskertransplant]

This is a big deal...he is a Regent. On Monday alone, there were two reports of sexual assault on the UNL campus. And students are to believe leadership cares?

 

[phoenix4nu]

What the F is going in in Lincoln. Geezus

We're a proud member of the B1G now.

 

[Newbomb_Turk1]

I know of Anders and he got what he deserved. Had no clue there was any tie to Stark until now. Not sure of the association between Stark and Anders but this is extremely surprising he would involved with anything with this guy.

 

[kccornhusker]

So did Stark tell someone not to say the alleged rapist is a good guy?

Seems that way to me:

“A police report reviewed by KETV NewsWatch 7 from the Anders case shows a character witness for the defense "received a text message from a person he knows and this person asked him not to testify in this case."

The police document referenced a supplemental report, which is not available for review by reporters.”

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

I know Doug very well, or shall I say used to. When the news of his sexual assault broke absolutely zero people who knew him were surprised....He is a scam artist who scammed a lot of people out of a lot of damn money. He developed a machine called "Free Spot" and basically it was a mechanized bench and squat machine that automatically released tension on the weights (via a cable to the bar) so a single person could work out heavy with "free weights" and this was a robotic spotter so to speak. Doug is kind of a piece of shit so his situation did not surprise me, what does surprise me is Stark. They were business partners or acquaintances on some level and have been for 2 decades or more and Doug used his name and connection to Husker football to help lure many "investors" into his invention.......and I am surprised Stark would put himself in this position. Most people figured out who Doug was pretty fast and shied away very quickly afterwards...but for some reason Stark hung around. Weird.

 

[WHCSC]

I know Doug very well, or shall I say used to. When the news of his sexual assault broke absolutely zero people who knew him were surprised....He is a scam artist who scammed a lot of people out of a lot of damn money. He developed a machine called "Free Spot" and basically it was a mechanized bench and squat machine that automatically released tension on the weights (via a cable to the bar) so a single person could work out heavy with "free weights" and this was a robotic spotter so to speak. Doug is kind of a piece of shit so his situation did not surprise me, what does surprise me is Stark. They were business partners or acquaintances on some level and have been for 2 decades or more and Doug used his name and connection to Husker football to help lure many "investors" into his invention.......and I am surprised Stark would put himself in this position. Most people figured out who Doug was pretty fast and shied away very quickly afterwards...but for some reason Stark hung around. Weird.

The way it reads to me is that Stark was trying to help put this guy away

 

[drubendall]

The way it reads to me is that Stark was trying to help put this guy away

Same. 'for the defense'

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

The way it reads to me is that Stark was trying to help put this guy away

I hope you're right....I read this again and I just can't tell for sure.

 

[LBremser]

I know of Anders and he got what he deserved. Had no clue there was any tie to Stark until now. Not sure of the association between Stark and Anders but this is extremely surprising he would involved with anything with this guy.

Stark was advocating for the victim and was on the prosecution's witness list, although ultimately not called at trial. The accusation is that he asked Willie Miller to not testify as a character witness for Anders.

 

[drubendall]

Stark was advocating for the victim and was on the prosecution's witness list, although ultimately not called at trial. The accusation is that he asked Willie Miller to not testify as a character witness for Anders.

Either way, he crossed a big line

 

[HuskerHusaria]

Sheesh.

 

[PCastro]

Stark was advocating for the victim and was on the prosecution's witness list, although ultimately not called at trial. The accusation is that he asked Willie Miller to not testify as a character witness for Anders.

I didn’t realize ‘character witness’ was a real thing. Thought it was TV stuff. I find that odd that just saying ‘yea this dude is cool’ is factual evidence but I don’t know Jack about courts and trials

 

[Huskertransplant]

Does anyone think it is odd that charges are just now being filed....this happened last August. Does anyone else think it is odd that that the charges were not filed by Douglas County....but by the State? I just read a court document that Stark's attorney only wants info between Miller and Stark retrieved...as Stark has client info on the phone; he is still active as a sports psychologist. Something doesn't sound right. And the media did a poor job reporting this news.....many outlets.

 

[LBremser]

Does anyone think it is odd that charges are just now being filed....this happened last August. Does anyone else think it is odd that that the charges were not filed by Douglas County....but by the State? I just read a court document that Stark's attorney only wants info between Miller and Stark retrieved...as Stark has client info on the phone; he is still active as a sports psychologist. Something doesn't sound right. And the media did a poor job reporting this news.....many outlets.

It happened last August, but the trial was in February 2021, I don't think that they would make the incident public until after the trial. The Douglas County Attorneys office recused itself because Stark was listed as a potential witness for them, so the State Attorney Generals office got the case. It does seem like they wouldn't need 6 months to decide to file charges, either they had the the text to Miller or they didn't - if they did it doesn't seem like there would be a lot more need to continue investigating.

 

[SuperBigFan]

This is lame, this is not tampering, this is talking to a friend that you have known for years.

Nothing is coming of this.

 

[LBremser]

This is lame, this is not tampering, this is talking to a friend that you have known for years.

Nothing is coming of this.

28-919.​

Tampering with witness or informant; jury tampering; penalty.​

(1) A person commits the offense of tampering with a witness or informant if, believing that an official proceeding or investigation of a criminal or civil matter is pending or about to be instituted, he or she attempts to induce or otherwise cause a witness or informant to:


(a) Testify or inform falsely;


(b) Withhold any testimony, information, document, or thing;

 

[SuperBigFan]

28-919.​

Tampering with witness or informant; jury tampering; penalty.​

(1) A person commits the offense of tampering with a witness or informant if, believing that an official proceeding or investigation of a criminal or civil matter is pending or about to be instituted, he or she attempts to induce or otherwise cause a witness or informant to:


(a) Testify or inform falsely;


(b) Withhold any testimony, information, document, or thing;

Like I said, nothing is happening with this.

 

[dinglefritz]

Stark was advocating for the victim and was on the prosecution's witness list, although ultimately not called at trial. The accusation is that he asked Willie Miller to not testify as a character witness for Anders.

He should be given a medal instead of charged. I'm not sure what the AG is trying to prove with this one.

 

[dinglefritz]

This is lame, this is not tampering, this is talking to a friend that you have known for years.

Nothing is coming of this.

It seems odd that advising someone you've had a long relationship with that the guy he's going to testify for is a POS has become a criminal offense.

 

[SuperBigFan]

It seems odd that advising someone you've had a long relationship with that the guy he's going to testify for is a POS has become a criminal offense.

Exactly.