A University of Minnesota basketball player who was arrested over the weekend has been released from jail.
Reggie Lynch was arrested Sunday on suspicion of criminal sexual conduct and booked into the Hennepin County Jail.
Lynch has not been charged with a crime, and the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said in an email news release Tuesday that it has “deferred a charging decision” as the investigation continues.
That means investigators will continue to do more work on the case. As a result, Lynch was released from jail. (A person can only be held in jail for 36 hours without charges being filed – those 36 hours expired for Lynch at noon Tuesday.)
Charges are still possible in the case, the county attorney explains, noting there is no “hard deadline” on when investigators’ work has to be finished. Typically though, it isn’t longer than 90 days, the release says.
Details of the incident that led to his arrest haven’t been released, but Lynch was suspended from all team activities “indefinitely,” pending the outcome of the investigation, the U said in a statement Sunday night.
Update: University of Minnesota basketball head coach Richard Pitino said in an email statement Tuesday he’s “deeply disappointed” with the allegations and impact it’s had on everyone involved. In addition, he said Lynch will remain suspended until the investigation is complete.
Lynch’s arrest is the latest in a series of suspensions involving the Gophers basketball team. Dean Johnson, the chairman of the U of M’s Board of Regents, called those incidents “disturbing” and “disheartening,” according to KSTP.
A few months ago, three players were suspended after a sex video was posted to social media. No charges were filed in that incident.
Lynch is the sixth Gopher basketball player to be suspended or kicked off the team in the past year. The others:
- Daquan McNeil – kicked off the team
- Kevin Dorsey – suspended
- Nate Mason – suspended
- Dupree McBrayer – suspended
- Carlos Morris – kicked off the team
