It looks like the Kentucky Wildcats community has pegged the people as the whistle-blowers that got several coaches fired after a three-month investigation into alleged acts of hazing, alcohol and public nudity, the Lexington Herald Leader reports.
A University of Kentucky cheerleader and her mother have faced an onslaught of online criticism across social media in the days since and they are sick of it. Cheerleader Tylee Oldham and mother Karen Oldham have been deemed the whistle-blowers and Twitter users have been blasting them all week long. It has even gone as far as someone creating an online petition to get their family criminally investigated for false claims.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NCAA stories via Google! Follow Us
After so much abuse from random people, Karen took to Facebook to claim that she did not alert the university to the alleged happenings: “Again reporting didn’t come from us but I will let you know I personally am reporting the abuse my daughter has endured the past 48 hours!” In another comment, she said her daughter “told the truth when asked.”
According to the document released by the university, Kentucky’s coaches failed “to provide reasonable oversight during off-campus events, where inappropriate conduct by members of the cheerleading squad included hazing activities, alcohol use and public nudity.”
Several Kentucky cheerleaders have since come out and publicly defended the program.
“This program is the epitome of professionalism. It’s not only made me a better athlete, but also a much better person,” Riley Aguilar tweeted. “This greatly affects myself and my teammates who have worked our whole lives to get to this university/team. Please don’t feed into lies that are hurting us.”
Former Kentucky cheerleader Kyle Steele “connected the dots” and stated that everything leads back to Karen Oldham.
Oldham defended herself on Facebook:
“There is no way any parent can say it is okay for a coach to watch naked athletes in any fashion. I’m glad our daughter was not a participant. Just so sad for all and I pray the victims heal.
“There were so many crazy findings we had no clue. It has been amazing how some have resurfaced lol to give me full credit of my name Karen. To this date we have sued no one but I am definitely looking at it in the near future. “Someone will be held accountable for these abusive acts. We have been threatened and I will always protect my kids.”
