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According to The Athletic, the men’s hockey coach at Robert Morris University has been accused of sexual assault by multiple players.
Thomas “Chico” Adrahtas, coach of Robert Morris University for nine seasons, resigned from his position after a former player accused Adrahtas of sexually assaulting him for 20 months.
The victim claims that Adrahtas used gifts, promising career success, and flattery to gain the trust of him as a player. He accuses Adrahtas of exploiting his family issues to gain legal guardianship before repeatedly subjecting him to acts of sexual abuse. The former player claims during these acts, he was blindfolded, tied up, and bound by the ankles.
The player reported his alleged abuse to Robert Morris University and the American College Hockey Association. This was not the first time someone reported Adrahtas for abuse, and not the first time Robert Morris University or the American College Hockey Association had heard claims of abuse regarding Adrahtas. Despite misconduct complaints and concerning behavior, Adrahtas continued to land jobs working as a hockey coach.
The Athletic uncovered allegations of sexual abuse and manipulation against Adrahtas; players claim he weaponized their dreams and exploited the player’s trust to abuse them sexually. One former player outlined his alleged abuse. He said Adrahtas offered to get him a woman to perform oral sex but had to be blindfolded and restrained. The victim went to the room and was tied up, and someone performed oral sex on him. Following this encounter, Adrahtas asked the player if he wanted the woman to come over again continuously.
The alleged victim had the opportunity to play at a new team and went to Minnesota. Shortly after, Adrahtas became the assistant coach. Adrahtas told the player that the woman he used to see moved to Minnesota and could come over to see him. Adrahtas claimed the woman would only come to service him if the victim wanted her to come as well. When the victim would show reluctance, Adrahtas would remind him of how Adrahtas helped advance his career.
The victim noticed that the oral sex performed on him in Chicago was different than in Minnesota. Adrahtas also noticeably began to have more cash flow and let the victim use his card at all. The victim claims that Adrahtas allowed men to perform oral sex on him and received payment; he believes he was prostituted out.
Another alleged victim outlines his encounter with Adrahtas. At first, he was just a regular player on the team, and his father was excited he was playing up with college level players at 16-years-old. Once Adrahtas and the boy became close, Adrahtas told him about a woman who loved to perform oral sex, but the boy would have to be blindfolded. When the boy told his friends about the encounter, one of his friends said, “Bullshit. The coach blew you.” The boy felt embarrassed, ashamed, and afraid. About a year later, the boy’s play began to suffer, and he didn’t understand why.
Previous players said that Adrahtas would rave about this woman who performed the best oral sex ever, but he always did it individually. He also explained the deal of being blindfolded and bound. Once players began to understand what was going on, they planned a sting operation. The players did not see anyone go in or out of the house and assumed their belief of Adrahtas was true. He was fired from The University of Minnesota but got hired somewhere else.
Later, Adrahtas found another player to take under his wing. He told this player one of his teammate’s mother’s wanted to hook up with him and give him a blowjob, but he would have to be blindfolded. The player declined and said in his gut he thought Adrahtas was trying to get him into a room to do something with him.
The Athletic stated that Adrahtas, now 64, when contacted, said he never sexually abused anyone. However, the first two victims outlined above struggled with periods of self-sabotage, rage, self-loathing, isolation, and contemplated suicide. They found it difficult to trust authority figures. The third victim outlined believes Adrahtas molested him mentally.
Victims say they are angry with Adrahtas, and the people he feels were aware of the coach’s misconduct and doing nothing or barely helping.
Attorney contributor Guy D'Andrea, an experienced sex abuse lawyer, has represented numerous victims sexually abused by a coach in civil lawsuits. We interviewed Brian and asked him to highlight the legal options of victims sexually abused by their coach.
"Universities and team organizations have a legal obligation to protect their students and team members and provide a safe sporting environment. These organizations must do everything possible to prevent predators from working with children and players of all ages. Unfortunately, across the country, there have been numerous sexual assault cases against coaches at both schools and organizations. These predators use their positions of authority to abuse their power and trust to exploit their players sexually. Universities and organizations must actively attempt to protect students from all danger and sexual predators."
"Victims should first acquire the services of an experienced sex abuse attorney. This attorney can help determine if the university or organization provided adequate safety and preventative measures for victims. If it is found that the organizations and universities did not have proper safety measures before the assault, it might be considered negligent in a lawsuit. Examples of negligence are if there were complaints of sexual misconduct against a coach, but the coach was still permitted to work. Additionally, suppose a coach was hired after misconduct reports were filed at previous workplaces. In that case, another example of negligence is if organizations did not perform thorough background checks to find prior misconduct and crimes. In such cases, universities or organizations could be deemed negligent. In cases of negligence, the victim and their family should know they may receive compensation for damages after a civil lawsuit."
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