Richmond soccer star Ty Zantuck is accused of inappropriately touching a teenage girl at a high school soccer party that landed AFL legend Matthew Lloyd in trouble as police launch an investigation.
- Former Bombers and Richmond player denies allegations
- Lawyer claims his girl accidentally hit a chair
- Police are investigating the incident
Former AFL player Ty Zantuck has been accused of inappropriately touching a teenage girl at the same party former Bombers player Matthew Lloyd attended.
Lloyd was temporarily suspended by Haileybury College after he attended a party for the high school football team he coaches and alcohol was found to be part of the celebrations.
The university had won its first all-time berth in the Associated Public Schools competition since 2018 with Lloyd as coach and Zantuck as his assistant.
Victoria Police said in a statement: “A 41-year-old man is alleged to have inappropriately touched a 17-year-old woman at a gathering at a residence in the south-east suburbs.” The investigation is ongoing.
Daily Mail Australia does not imply that Lloyd was aware of Zantuck’s alleged activities at the party, and Lloyd is not under police investigation.
Zantuck (pictured, left) has strenuously denied allegations that he inappropriately touched a teenage girl at a party in south-east Melbourne on July 30.
The former Bombers and Richmond defenseman (pictured left) now suffers from chronic back pain and was returning home to access his pain medication at the time, his attorney said in a statement.
The staff members were penalized for attending the party in Dingley, in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs, which included the consumption of alcohol.
Zantuck confirmed that he attended the party in the early hours of July 30, but denied any wrongdoing in a statement provided to Age.
“I was initially celebrating in Brighton and then finished in Dingley at 12:45am. I categorically deny any allegations of wrongdoing,” she said.
A married father of two, Zantuck played 77 AFL games as a defender for Richmond and Essendon from 2000 until he was delisted in 2002.
Since his retirement, the former player has been diagnosed with a chronic back injury and suspected chronic traumatic encephalopathy from concussions during his career.
Zantuck was one of several Haileybury College staff members who attended the party after the Aussie Rules team won the premiership of the Associated Public Schools.
Zantuck’s attorney, Greg Griffin, said Zantuck was feeling the impacts of his back injury and was gathering his friends who accompanied him to the party so they could leave and he could get his painkillers.
In the process, Griffin said he accidentally slammed a teenage girl into a chair.
‘Ty, who needed to take painkillers for his back injury, was leaving the Dingley facility to pick up friends he had gone to the party with to go home when he tripped and fell in an odd way, accidentally hitting a woman at the party against a chair. Griffin said.
‘The incident was witnessed by several people. The female did not suffer any apparent injury and did not complain about what happened. Ty left the party with his friends after apologizing to the woman he accidentally bumped into.
‘Ty did nothing inappropriate and had intended to contact the woman later in the week to ensure she was okay and unaffected by the incident.
“But since the matter was reported to the police by a person who did not even attend the event, he will not speak to her until this matter is formally concluded.”
