ESPN Delays Doc Involving Obama Ally Kevin Johnson Over 1995 Sexual Assault Allegation
Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson and President Obama at the United States Conference of Mayors on May 19 in Sacramento.
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
ESPN will delay the broadcast of a documentary about the Sacramento Kingsbecause of renewed reporting on a sexual assault allegation against one of the film's subjects, former NBA star and Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson, Sports Illustratedreports.
A woman who says she was sexually abused as a minor by Johnson came forward publicly last month; on Oct. 8, Deadspin published a 1996 video that shows her describing Johnson's alleged criminal behavior to Phoenix police. (Police chose not to prosecute Johnson.) On Oct. 6, after a tweet by Johnson about the TPP trade agreement was retweeted by more than one official White House account, a reporter asked White House press secretary Josh Earnest about the assault allegation against Johnson, an Obama administration ally who has made multiple appearances with the president. (Earnest did not specifically comment on Johnson's case in his response but said that "the President’s views on sexual assault and his commitment to stopping sexual assault ... I think [are] quite well known.")
Deadspin's Dave McKenna has been reporting on Johnson's past (and present) for months, covering a variety of allegations against the former Phoenix Suns guard, who is married to former head of Washington D.C. schools and education activist Michelle Rhee. Johnson, mayor of the capital city of California, has been accused of:
Sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl in Phoenix in 1995. The alleged victim identified herself publicly in a Sept. 25 Deadspin piece; her name is Mandi Koba and she says that by speaking she is violating a non-disclosure agreement that she signed as part of a $230,600 settlement with Johnson in 1997. In a 1996 police video, Koba describes Johnson fondling her breasts and buttocks and touching her leg and and hand with his penis. (Johnson was not charged for any crimes relating to his relationship with Koba and has said the allegation against him is untrue.)
Misusing federal AmeriCorps funds at his St. Hope Academy charter school organization in Sacramento. The allegations, made in a report by a federal inspector general for the Corporation for National and Community Service (the federal agency that oversees AmeriCorps), resulted in the organization paying some money back toKevin Johnson sexual assault allegations: Sacramento mayor faces questions.: