A music professor at the University of Northern Iowa was placed on paid leave Thursday. Bradley Barrett was placed on leave after UNI officials learned he is named in a federal lawsuit that accuses him of sexually abusing a high school student in Missouri.
The plaintiff, 31-year-old Adam Walker, says he was sexually abused by Barrett when Barrett was a vocal teacher in the Logan-Rogersville School District, located near Springfield, in the 1990s. The lawsuit states the abuse occurred at Barrett’s house, Walker’s house, on school property and during several school-related trips.
Walker held a news conference on the UNI campus Thursday saying he wanted to "inform Iowa parents and students about the lawsuit." Barrett’s attorney, David Bell of Kansas City, released a statement calling Walker’s press conference "unfortunate." Bell says "the judicial system, rather than the media, is the appropriate and Constitutionally guaranteed forum for resolution of these disputes."