OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — University of Nebraska Regent Jack Stark is facing felony witness tampering charges in Douglas County Court stemming from a sexual assault case of another man.
Police reports show that Stark, a former sports psychologist with Husker athletics who was elected to the Board of Regents last year, texted a key witness in the case.
Stark has been a popular sports psychologist in Nebraska for decades, working with some of the great Husker football teams of the 1990s.
He's now in the spotlight less than a year after being elected as a regent and charged with felony witness tampering.
The charge stems from the sexual assault trial of Douglas Anders, an Omaha gym owner, who was accused of sexually assaulting a longtime client.
For that trial, Stark was sought out by the prosecution as a witness for the case against Anders.
In an Omaha police report filed last year, Willie Miller, a former Husker football player was tasked as a character witness in support of Anders.
The report says Miller indicated he received a text from "a person he knows and this person asked him not to testify in the case."
Stark did not testify in the case, but Miller did. Anders was found guilty and is now in Tecumseh State Prison.
Stark's felony charge has a maximum sentence of two years in prison with the possibility of probation if convicted.
3 News Now called a number of NU regents on Thursday and asked about Stark's tenure on the board.
Regent Robert Schafer, a Beatrice lawyer, was hesitant to draw conclusions. He said his hometown is still paying off a settlement in theBeatrice 6 case, which revolved around premature assumptions of guilt.
“I think it’ll be premature to have an opinion of that nature without knowing facts of the case. we have a judicial system in place,” he said.
While state officials can’t be recalled, they can in theory be impeached by the state legislature and removed by the Nebraska Supreme Court.
The last time that happened was in 2006 when another Nebraska Regent, David Hergert was impeached and removed for campaign finance violations.
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