Police investigate leak of Wisconsin volleyball players’ private images

Wisconsin won the NCAA women’s volleyball championship last season. (iStock)

An investigation has begun into how images and videos of University of Wisconsin women’s volleyball players, intended to be private, were shared online, the school announced Wednesday evening.

One photo, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported, showed players posing with their sports bras lifted and appeared to have been taken after the team clinched the Big Ten title in November. A statement from the Wisconsin athletic department offered no details other than to say university police were “investigating multiple crimes, including sharing sensitive photos without consent.”

“UWPD is not investigating the volleyball student-athletes for wrongdoing in this matter,” the statement read. “Our top priority is supporting our student-athletes and we are providing them with the appropriate services and resources.”

Statement from UW Athletics pic.twitter.com/M2lK2OYg8a

— Wisconsin Badgers (@UWBadgers) October 19, 2022

Players contacted university police when they became aware that the material had been distributed, and most of it has been removed from websites where it was posted.

“The unauthorized sharing is a significant and wrongful invasion of the student-athletes’ privacy, including potential violations of university policies and criminal statues,” the athletic department statement read.

Wisconsin’s team has played in the past three Final Fours, winning the national championship last season, and reached the final three times in the past decade. This year’s team, ranked fifth in the nation, is 13-3 with a 7-1 Big Ten record.