There were 49 days between the 2015 Libertyville against McHenry playoff water polo match at Buffalo Grove and the date the Buffalo Grove Police Department closed its investigation into an alleged sexual assault during the match.
Below is a timeline, according to a Buffalo Grove police department report, of the investigation into McHenry graduate Becca Dabrowski’s allegations, which she stated again for the July 17, 2016, episode of ESPN’s “Outside the Lines:”
May 14, 2015: McHenry defeats Libertyville in a playoff match at Buffalo Grove High School. After the match, IHSA official Andy Mattson began working on a report of the incident, after Dabrowski accused a Libertyville opponent of sexual assault during the match.
May 16, 2015: Dabrowski and her parents traveled to the Buffalo Grove police department to report that she was allegedly inappropriately grabbed during the playoff water polo match against Libertyville. Investigator Daniel Dimeler was called to the station to conduct a detailed interview with the family.
Dabrowski then spoke with Dimeler and Sgt. Tara Anderson, stating she was assaulted underwater by a Libertyville opponent late in the first quarter of the game, when he reached into her swimsuit and inappropriately touched her.
Dabrowski stated that she didn't see any reaction from him when it happened and he did not speak with her before, after or during the game. After she was inappropriately touched, she said she screamed "hey watch it" but he did not say anything or acknowledge the incident.
Immediately afterward, Libertyville went on offense and her opponent swam to the other side of the pool and received the ball. Dabrowski said that she swam after him and fouled him on the arm, resulting in a penalty. After the penalty, she swam toward the pool exit and began to cry as she realized the full extent of the incident.
McHenry coach Craig Fowles then asked her what was wrong, she responded that he had grabbed her and Fowles asked if it was "inappropriate." She responded "yes."
After that, Fowles yelled to the officials and Libertyville coach Ivan Munoz about the incident while McHenry assistant coach Natalie Schawel went to the bench to speak with Dabrowski, who repeated the details of the incident.
Her Liberyville opponent was taken out of the match during halftime and did not re-enter but Dabrowski did return to the game.
Afterward, Munoz walked up to Dabrowski as she was sitting on the bench and said "I pulled him for you" but said nothing else about the incident.
After Dabrowski's interview, Dimeler explained to the Dabrowski family the options moving forward. They agreed to take a few days to consider those options. The family provided a roster of both teams to the investigators.
May 18, 2015: Dimeler contacted Libertyville police to speak with its school resource officer, Bob Uliks, and informed him of the incident. Uliks confirmed to Dimeler that the accused athlete was a student at the school and provided a contacted number for that student's family.
May 21, 2015: Dimeler left a message with the Dabrowski family to contact him regarding the investigation.
May 27, 2015: Dabrowski's mother returned the call and stated the family would like to move forward and press charges, at which point Dabrowski was asked to come to the police station for a photo lineup.
Dabrowski picked the player accused out of a six-photo lineup later that night.
June 3, 2015: Dimeler called Fowles and set up an interview with Fowles and Schawel for June 8. He contacted Uliks to get contact information for Munoz, who returned the call soon after and said that he could not speak with the investigator and refused to meet. Afterward, Dimeler contacted Uliks to see if Libertyville High School could assist in meeting with Munoz.
June 4, 2015: Munoz called Dimeler, stating he misunderstood school administration's instructions and that he would cooperate with the investigation, setting up an interview for June 8.
June 8, 2015: Investigators met with the McHenry coaches at Fowles’ home. Fowles explained that Dabrowski was the only girl on the McHenry boys team and competed with them because the school did not have a girls team.
He stated that, during practices and games, she had been hit or touched in sensitive areas before and knew that was part of the game. The coaches stated that they did not know the extent or exactly what occurred under the water, but they found it difficult to believe that a hand inside a suit could be unintentional since the suit was form-fitting.
The McHenry coaches stated that the game is very physical and touches/grabs in sensitive areas between opposite gender can happen. Also, the majority of the game is underwater so it can be hard to tell what exactly happened.
The coaches then spoke of official Andy Mattson’s report.
At 3 p.m., investigators met with Munoz, informing him of why they wanted to meet and asking him if he knew the extent of the incident. Munoz said that he knew contact occurred between his player and Dabrowski, but did not know how serious it was.
Munoz stated he had coached the team for five years and nothing like this had happened before. Munoz stated he was unaware of the incident until halftime, when Fowles approached him and said "What are you teaching your players?" and informed Munoz of the alleged inappropriate touching/grabbing.
At that point, Munoz spoke with his player, who said that nothing had happened. Munoz then asked all of his players to get out of the pool, at which point the Libertyville player threw his water bottle.
Munoz then said he told the player he did not tolerate his players acting that way and benched him.
Munoz said that his team's game plan was to have his players drop off Dabrowski and allow her to shoot while double-teaming McHenry's stronger shooters. Munoz said they had faced Dabrowski several times over the years and had several players guard her without incident. He said he had not spoken with his player again about the incident since the final game. Investigators asked Munoz to contact them if he remembered any other information.
June 9, 2015: Investigators contacted Dabrowski's mother to give an update on the investigation and also contacted the Libertyville player's mother to contact them regarding the investigation.
June 10, 2015: Investigators left a message at the Libertyville player's home number, which was later returned by his step father, who asked what the family needed to do. The investigator stated there was an incident in the water polo match and wished to speak with the player. The step father said he was willing to come to the station as soon as possible.
At 2 p.m., the Libertyville player arrived with his parents and agreed to be interviewed. He was advised he was not under arrest and could leave at any time.
The player said that he did not remember any incidents during the McHenry match and wasn't sure why he was being asked about it. When asked if any inappropriate contact had been made with a female on McHenry's team, the player said he did not recall any inappropriate contact but he may have accidentally kicked her.
The investigator then asked for more details on the match. The Libertyville player said that he and several of his teammates guarded her during the match and he recalled that, while she was on offense and he was on defense, her team turned the ball over.
He said that he may have tried to push off her to get separation in the opposite direction toward the opposing team's goal. While he was swimming toward the goal, she swam after him and fouled him. She was then kicked out and he did not see her for the rest of the half.
At halftime, he said the team swam to the edge of the pool to speak with coach Munoz, who asked him what happened. The player said that he responded "I was trying to counter and may have kicked her." While Munoz was speaking, he asked them to leave the pool. The player said he had a water bottle in his hand and threw it toward the side of the pool, where there were other water bottles.
Munoz must have thought it was thrown out of frustration and kept him out the rest of the match. The player said Munoz never gave him or his teammates any instructions to foul McHenry's female player or "take her out." The player said he did not recall any other incidents during the game where inappropriate contact could have happened and stated he would never do anything intentionally.
At 2:30 p.m., the player took a bathroom and water break.
At 2:35 p.m., the investigators asked the player several times if he could have had inappropriate contact either on purpose or by accident. The Libertyville player stated several times that he does not remember touching the McHenry player inappropriately and, if he ever did, it was an accident.
The Libertyville player then said that he may have kicked her unintentionally but did not think it was in a sensitive area. Investigators then told the Libertyville player that the McHenry player claimed she was touched inappropriately under her suit. The Libertyville player responded that he never touched her there and, if it did happen, it was purely accidental.
The investigator then stated that, if he did do something, now would be the time to say it.
The player then continually denied ever touching her and, if it did happen, it was accidental. He said that, if there was inappropriate contact, then he apologizes and it was not intentional.
At 3:15 p.m., the interview ended and the player was brought back to the police department lobby, where he met his parents. Investigators informed the family of the extent of the conversation and that the investigation was ongoing. The family stated they understood and would assist in any way. When asked about video of the game, the Libertyville player's mother said she had filmed the game on her iPad and would be willing to drop off a copy of the video at the police station.
June 15, 2015: Investigators received a copy of the game video and reviewed the footage. They located when the incident happened but the video did not show the actual incident, since it occurred underwater.
After the incident, Dabrowski is seen swimming after the Libertyville player and fouling him. She was penalized and left the pool. After viewing the video, police investigators determined they did not believe the actions of the Libertyville player were intentional at that time and put the copy of the video into evidence.
Police then contacted Dabrowski's mother to update her on the investigation, detailing who police had interviewed and that they had received the IHSA officials' report. Investigators told her that, at that time, they were unable to determine if the Libertyville player's actions were intentional or if contact was accidental.
She was not pleased but said that she understood and would look into other possible actions with the IHSA or other alternatives.
June 22, 2015: Investigators left a message with the Libertyville player's family.
July 1, 2015: The Libertyville player's step father was contacted by investigators, who told him the status of the case, stating they were suspending the investigation at this time and the case was being closed. The step father stated he understood and would inform the former Libertyville player.
“No further evidence and no further leads. CASE CLOSED”
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