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The man who headed Athletic Communications at Sacred Heart University for the past eight years resigned Friday after it was learned he faces charges of child pornography. Eugene "Gene" Gumbs, 49, of Middletown, resigned a week after he turned himself in to Middletown police.
The university's senior director of athletics, C. Donald Cook, refused to comment on Gumbs' departure and directed callers to the public relations office. In a brief statement, Sacred Heart acknowledged Gumbs' resignation, adding that it had no "information related to the charges against him, and have not yet been contacted by any of the authorities in this matter."
Gumbs had been employed at Sacred Heart as the assistant athletic director for communications since the summer of 2002. In that capacity, he was in charge of publicity for the Pioneers' 31 varsity teams and served as a broadcaster, on radio and webcasts, for the Pioneers' football, basketball and hockey teams. He also works for Major League Baseball, handling online game day software at Fenway Park.
State Judicial Records indicate that Gumbs was arrested April 30 on charges of child pornography and illegal possession of child pornography, both felonies, in connection with an alleged incident last July 24. He is free on $35,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Middletown Superior Court on May 17 -- on the morning following the university's undergraduate Commencement.
Gumbs' career in sports information encompasses 24 years and two other institutions, Western New England College in Springfield, Mass., and Central Connecticut State University, prior to Sacred Heart. He earned a bachelor's degree from Franklin Pierce College.
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