After Jennifer Pendley filed a counterclaim last month against Josh Pastner, his attorneys said her fiancé had manipulated her into making up a sexual assault allegation against the former University of Arizona basketball player and coach.
But Pendley insists she is telling the truth, and says the stress of coming forward has exacerbated her already serious health problems.
Pendley, 45, was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension a little more than three years ago. Her heart must work harder to pump blood through her lungs; the excess work will eventually cause her heart muscles to weaken and fail, she said. The only cure is a double-lung transplant and, in Pendley’s case, a heart transplant.
She uses oxygen at night and sometimes during the day, and says she’s been on it more since 2016, when she says Georgia Tech coach Pastner, a friend of her fiancé Ron Bell, attacked her.
“When I’m under stress, it’s really hard for me to breathe or function. I get swelling in my legs and ankles and retain a lot of water, because is my heart is pumping overtime,” Pendley said.
Although Bell has spent time in prison for crimes related to prescription drug abuse, Pendley says her record is clean and that she shouldn’t be doubted because of her fiancé’s past. Arizona court records show no criminal cases involving Pendley, who moved to Tucson from Ohio in 2009.
Pendley volunteered with the Peace Corps in Africa, then worked for a Fortune 500 company. From there, she did event planning for a community college and was a sales manager in the hotel industry before moving to Tucson. She spent four years as director of food and beverage at the Tucson Convention Center until 2014, when her position was dissolved.
Pendley and Bell met through a dating app in 2015. He eventually moved into her home, and she later added him as a property owner.
While Pastner has described Pendley and Bell as fans, photos shared with the Star show them visiting Pastner’s home and spending time with the coach’s family, including his children.
Pendley said she was initially excited to get to know Pastner’s wife, Kerri. Pendley has Asperger’s syndrome, which, she says, makes connecting with others hard.
After Pendley accused Pastner of sexual assault, his attorneys issued a two-page letter in support of their client. It included an Oro Valley police report for a welfare check on Pendley, made at the request of her family, which the attorneys said showed Bell was manipulating her.
The police report was taken out of context, said Pendley’s attorney, Paul Gattone, as it was preceded by a protective order.
“Because I had put a restraining order on my father, they couldn’t call me,” Pendley said. “Because of my illness and everything, they wanted to do a check up to make sure I was taking my medication.”
Pendley objected to Pastner’s assertions that he is the victim in this case. She noted that she was the first to take legal action, filing a litigation hold — similar to a notice of claim — against Pastner in Texas on Dec. 21. The Star obtained a copy of the notice.
Pastner’s attorneys have called Pendley’s story a fabrication, saying that it’s an extortion plot by she and Bell, who is listed as a co-defendant in Pastner’s lawsuit.
“Josh Pastner filed his lawsuit against Mr. Bell and Ms. Pendley because he wants the truth to come out,” Scott Tompsett wrote in a statement to the Star. “And the truth is that Mr. Bell and Ms. Pendley manufactured and concocted malicious lies in an effort to blackmail and extort Mr. Pastner.”
Pendley says people have questioned why she didn’t go to police after the alleged attack.
“It’s easy for other people to say, ‘You should have done this or that,’” she said. “But until they walk in your shoes, they can’t judge me for that.”
