Police investigate after private photos and video of University of Wisconsin women's volleyball players shared without consent

Campus police are investigating "multiple" potential crimes after private photos and videos of student athletes at the University of Wisconsin were shared online without their consent, the school announced on Wednesday. 

Athletes who were targeted are members of the women's volleyball team, the university's athletics department said in a Twitter statement about the incident. 

The school confirmed that university police had launched an investigation into the photos and videos after receiving reports from volleyball players, but did not provide details about the nature of the images or recordings. 

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which said it received a photo of the volleyball team allegedly circulating without permission, one of the images appeared to show some players posing topless after winning a game.  The photo appears to have been taken after the team won the Big Ten title last November, the newspaper reported.

"We are aware that private photos and video of UW volleyball student-athletes that were never intended to be shared publicly are being circulated digitally," the athletics department said on Wednesday, noting that "the unauthorized sharing is a significant and wrongful invasion of the student-athletes' privacy, including potential violations of university policies and criminal statutes." 

University police are now "investigating multiple crimes" in response to the athletes' report, "including sharing sensitive photos without consent,"  the athletics department said. 

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

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