An investigation is underway after private videos and photos of the University of Wisconsin women’s volleyball team were shared online without consent.
“The unauthorized sharing is a significant and wrongful invasion of the student-athletes’ privacy, including potential violations of university policies and criminal statutes,” the university’s athletics department said in a tweeted statement on Tuesday.
The department said the images were “never intended to be shared publicly”.
Team members contacted university police after becoming aware that the images had been posted online, the department added.
“UWPD is investigating multiple crimes, including sharing sensitive photos without consent,” the department said. “UWPD is not investigating the volleyball student-athletes for wrongdoing in this matter.”
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, one of the images appears to have been taken after the team won the Big Ten Title in November of 2021.
The paper reported that the image showed players with their sports bras lifted.
“Our top priority is supporting our student-athletes and we are providing them with the appropriate services and resources”, the athletics department said.
Most of the posts have been removed, The Sentinel reported.
The paper called the team “a national powerhouse and arguably the athletic department’s most successful program”.
The team reached the Final Four during the last three seasons and the final three times in the last ten years.
It’s currently ranked fifth in the US, The Sentinel noted.
