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Big Ben accused of rape

woman has filed a lawsuit accusing Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger of raping her last summer in his penthouse room at a casino in Lake Tahoe during a celebrity golf tournament.

Roethlisberger's lawyer adamantly denied the allegations Tuesday.

"Ben has never sexually assaulted anyone. The timing of the lawsuit and the absence of a criminal complaint and a criminal investigation are the most compelling evidence of the absence of any criminal conduct. If an investigation is commenced, Ben will cooperate fully and Ben will be fully exonerated," David Cornwell said in a statement.

The claim seeks at least $390,000 in damages from the quarterback, who has won two Super Bowls and is one of biggest names in sports. The lawsuit also alleges hotel officials for Harrah's Lake Tahoe went to great lengths to cover up the incident.

Teresa Duffy, a spokeswoman for the sheriff's office in Douglas County, which includes part of Lake Tahoe, said no complaints were filed about such an incident either with sheriff's deputies or the district attorney's office.

The woman's lawsuit says she didn't file a criminal complaint because she feared she would be fired and expected Harrah's would side with Roethlisberger.

The woman said she had been promoted from VIP shift manager and was working as an executive casino host when Roethlisberger struck up a friendly conversation at her desk during the golf tournament.

The next day, July 11, 2008, she said he telephoned her to tell her his television sound system wasn't working and asked her to look at it.

She said she was unable to find a technician so she decided to handle it herself because she had been told how important it was to please celebrities.

In Roethlisberger's room she said she determined the TV was functioning properly but as she turned to leave but the 6-foot-5, 240-pound quarterback stood in front of the day and blocked her, the suit claims.

The lawsuit said he then grabbed her and started to kiss her. It said she was "shocked and stunned that this previously friendly man, that appeared to be a gentleman in her previous contacts with him was suddenly preventing her from leaving, was assaulting her and battering her."

She said she feared that because he was a football player he could or would physically harm her if she tried to fight him off but that she objected and protested several times.

"But instead of stopping, Roethlisberger began fondling plaintiff through her dress and between her legs," the suit said. He then "held her against her will and physically moved plaintiff and pushed her onto his bed" here he raped her, the suit says.

She told him "You don't want to do this," and begged him "I am not on any type of birth control."

Afterward, he asked if there was a security camera in the hallway. She said he then instructed her to claim she had repaired his television if anyone asked why she was in his room.

The lawsuit says the woman required hospitalization for treatment for depression after the alleged attack.

The woman's lawyer, Calvin R. Dunlap, of Reno, declined to answer questions about the lack of a criminal complaint and why the civil action was brought a year after the incident allegedly took place.

"Neither I nor our client will be making any comment," Dunlap said in an e-mail to AP. "We believe the matter should be resolved in court rather than in the media."

The lawsuit also names eight Harrah's employees as defendants and alleges the cover-up involved the chief of security at Harrah's Lake Tahoe and was carried out with the knowledge of John Koster, president of Harrah's northern Nevada operations.

John Packer, spokesman for the hotel-casino, did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.

The suit says Harrah's security chief Guy Hyder gained the trust of her parents while she was hospitalized for depression and persuaded them to give him a key to her home. She said Hyder and others then entered her home and allegedly erased information from her computer and confiscated it.

The lawsuit claims that when the woman first reported the attack to Hyder he dismissed her distress and crying and said she was "over reacting.

The woman said Hyder told her that "most girls would feel lucky to get to have sex with someone like Ben Roethlisberger" and that "Koster would love you even more if he knew about this" because Koster was good friends with Roethlisberger and admired him greatly.

Steelers spokesman Dave Lockett said Tuesday the team is aware of the lawsuit, and "we are gathering information."

Comments

  • Bottom9thBottom9th Posts: 2,695 ✭✭
    No police report sounds fishy to me....
  • SanctionIISanctionII Posts: 11,660 ✭✭✭✭✭
    If he were a boxer named Tyson, he could start packing for a trip to the big house.
  • gemintgemint Posts: 6,064 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Saw her pic today. She looks like Owen Wilson's sister! I'm highly skeptical. Sounds very similar to the Jerome Bettis situation a few years back which turned out to be a blackmail scam.
  • joestalinjoestalin Posts: 12,473 ✭✭
    I don't doubt the story, didn't Ben try to molest a windshield a few years back? Steelers should forfit all their titles

  • gemintgemint Posts: 6,064 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>I don't doubt the story, didn't Ben try to molest a windshield a few years back? Steelers should forfit all their titles >>



    Well, he has limited options. He can't use his hand anymore because it's full of rings!!!
  • joestalinjoestalin Posts: 12,473 ✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>I don't doubt the story, didn't Ben try to molest a windshield a few years back? Steelers should forfit all their titles >>



    Well, he has limited options. He can't use his hand anymore because it's full of rings!!! >>



    I think Buba his cell mate might be wearing those rings soon!
  • "so she decided to handle it herself because she had been told how important it was to please celebrities."

    ba dum bump.

    im sure she handled it quite well.
  • BoopottsBoopotts Posts: 6,784 ✭✭
    Not buying it. What could this woman do to a T.V. that Ben Roethlisberger couldn't? There isn't anything you can do for a new T.V., aside from check the cable. We'll never know the whole story, but I'd be very surprised to learn that this woman did, in fact, leave her post at the front desk (or wherever) to go to an NFL football player's room and try to fix his television.

    Also, note that Ben doesn't REQUEST that she do the job herself-- he just says 'send someone up to fix the T.V.' So this woman shows up, and Ben thinks 'you know what, now that she's here I might as well rape her'? Uh-uh. I mean, I guess it's plausible, but this sequence of events seems very, very unlikely.
  • storm888storm888 Posts: 11,701 ✭✭✭
    "...Also, note that Ben doesn't REQUEST that she do the job herself-- he just says 'send someone up to fix the T.V.' So this woman shows up, ..."

    ////////////////////////////

    I have NO idea who is telling the truth.

    BUT, her complaint does claim that he DID REQUEST that she come to his room.

    ........

    See Paragraph 53 thru Paragraph 64.


    complaint

    Folks Who Bite Get Bitten. Folks Who Don't Bite Get Eaten.
  • MorgothMorgoth Posts: 3,950 ✭✭✭
    The fact that she is implicating 8 other employees and believes that they snuck into her house to steal and remove evidence is pretty paranoid to me.

    I believe they might of had sex.

    I don't think that everyone was out to get her like she claims. It is WAY too hard for cover up like that to remain silent if it indeed did occur.

    The fact it took her this long to bring about a suit and not a criminal one doesn't look good on her part.

    I think after the Duke Lacross fiasco people are generally being more cautious about damning people until all facts are known.

    Tyson had a pattern of that type of behavoir and Kobe was married. That is why those two were treated differently.

    If it's true than he shouldn't play again.
    Currently completing the following registry sets: Cardinal HOF's, 1961 Pittsburgh Pirates Team, 1972 Pittsburgh Pirates Team, 1980 Pittsburgh Pirates Team, Bill Mazeroski Master & Basic Sets, Roberto Clemente Master & Basic Sets, Willie Stargell Master & Basic Sets and Terry Bradshaw Basic Set
  • MorgothMorgoth Posts: 3,950 ✭✭✭
    She also states the head of Harrah's North American Operations was in on the cover up. Wow, unless Ben was gambling millions a year with them I can't imagine all of these people taking a bullet for him.
    Currently completing the following registry sets: Cardinal HOF's, 1961 Pittsburgh Pirates Team, 1972 Pittsburgh Pirates Team, 1980 Pittsburgh Pirates Team, Bill Mazeroski Master & Basic Sets, Roberto Clemente Master & Basic Sets, Willie Stargell Master & Basic Sets and Terry Bradshaw Basic Set
  • perkdogperkdog Posts: 29,342 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Just another person looking for money, not much else IMO
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