Ben Roethlisberger Being Sued For Sexual Assault
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is being accused of sexual assault by a woman who works at Harrah's in Lake Tahoe. There has never been any criminal complaint filed, just this lawsuit. According to TMZ the woman says that it all happened on July 11, 2008.
In the docs, the woman (who works at the hotel) claims she ran into Roethlisberger in the hotel hallway and he told her that the sound system on his television wasn't working. He allegedly asked her to come and "take a quick look" at it.
The woman claims she tried to call other hotel employees to fix the TV, but ultimately decided to go to the room to fix it herself. Once she got to the room, the woman claims she determined there was no problem with the TV -- but as she tried to leave, Roethlisberger stood in her way and "grabbed [her] and started to kiss her."
According to the report, the woman claims 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 and battering her."
In the docs, the woman claims she "communicated her objection and lack of consent," but he refused to stop and began "fondling [her] through her dress and between her legs."
She then says that Ben forced her to have sex against her will.
Ben's attorney says of course that none of this happened and that the lack of a police report is evidence enough. Plus, he says the woman has been involved in a number of other lawsuits including against people at Harrah's and that she may have spent time in a psychiatric hospital.
TMZ identifies the woman by name and has pictures of her. I just didn't feel it was right to post them.
26 comments:
Good call on not posting the name or pics. Seems out of character for Big Ben, so I hope the woman is just using this as a side job. Seems suspicious that she didn't pursue a criminal case first.
Yeah, something smells real fishy here, she could not get any workers at this huge resort to assist her???
So not cool of TMZ to publish them, yet at the same time it seems like this woman is seeking publicity? Not sure.
I agree that without a police report, this is all hearsay. Sometimes I feel sorry for celebrities. They get accused of all sorts of shit by people seeking money and fame.
If you really have an incident you report it immediately. July 2008 -way too long ago. Ben's a big guy. I was on a business trip and ended up in the same hotel where the Pittsburg Steelers were staying. Several times Ben and I were on the elevator together. Since they are all big you don't notice on tv how big they are. Stand next to one of them - they are huge. If he forced her to do anything there would have been bruises/marks of some kind.
BTW - he was very charming and thoughtful. Joked about giving the little blonde some room. I'm way older than him but it was cute.
Too hard to take a side. As for not reporting the incident - it could be so many scenarios, even one in which she may have been paid off by his people and now wants more. Just too hard to take a side here.
I thought the identity of sexual assault victims were supposed to be confidential. Really shitty of TMZ to post the picture whether what she says is true or not.
His last name bothers me. It's too long.
I'm always curious why women don't report these incidents right away instead of waiting a YEAR to come forward. That said, I've never (thankfully) been in this situation, so I can't guess how I'd react. Hopefully I'd nail the bastard to the wall. Immediately.
Lady J - I think because this was a civil case not a criminal case, both sides are public.
Just because there isn't a police report only means she didn't report it before.
I agree with Ben's attorney - the lack of a police report should be enough. While sadly many rape victims never go to the police, the same reasons for not doing so would obviously prevent them from filing a civil claim. I am always suspicious of people who go after cash instead criminal punishment when such a heinous crime has been committed - much like Michael Jackson's first molestation accuser.
@Babs - Lots of reason why women don't come forward immediately. Maybe they have a difficult time coping with what happened, they might be worried about people doubting them, some people might discourage them from pursuing the case, etc. List goes on. Just because women take the time to make a decision to pursue the case, doesn't discredit their veracity.
It's hard to say who's right. I tend to side with the victim. It takes a lot of courage to come forward. What makes me question her honesty is the fact that she decided money rather than seeing him locked up in prison as a form of justice.
The names of sexual assault victims are usually public in criminal cases too. They are all public in all adult criminal cases here, even if the victim is a minor.
The press usually CHOOSES not to report the victim's name and information. But that's up to each individual publication/station.
Waiting for facts and evidence.......
Man, I don't know. It sounds so odd. Why didn't she file a complaint? I don't want to not side with the victim, but I don't know what to do. Plus Roethlisberger is known to be a nice guy all the way back to when he was at Miami of Ohio. If he wanted a girl, he could walk downstairs to the casino and get one in five seconds. It's Vegas.
just the fact that she's allegedly done this before coupled with the fact that she is pursuing it civilly and not criminally makes me think she is lying.
i'm with ben on this.
Something seems "off" about this whole situation.
As a survivor of a sexual assault crime, I usually want to side with the accuser, but in this case I am not so sure.
My husband spent over 17 years as a patrol officer and has taken many rape/sexual assault reports. It surprised me when I learned that there was a large percentage of "rapes" that were not really rapes, but the woman had other reasons to call the police...like being caught cheating on boyfriend/spouse, not getting drugs in exchange for sex, wanting to get back at the guy, teen girls being caught with an older guy that mom said not see...
The list goes on and on. I still find it hard to believe that some women will toss down the rape card when it will benefit them in some way.
It angers me that these women will make false accusations when many of us (survivors) deal with the ramifications of sexual assault and battery for the rest of our lives.
Even thirty years later, I still want to see my attacker become someone's little bitch in prison or I would like to run over him with my car, backup, hit him again, repeat--either one is cool.
Getting money from him...not so much, I want him to suffer degradation and humiliation forever or longer. I still have no idea who the attacker was or why he chose me in a dark parking lot. I know other survivors who would love to see their attackers suffer rather than get a large check in the mail.
I am calling bullshit on this one.
I'm sure your attacker didn't wait for you to make sure the television was working correctly before assaulting you, Ellebee. Hope the real villians get what they deserve. Stay strong.
Hate to say this, but those of you who didn't care as newspapers shut down right and left (like mine) are now seeing the line that was drawn between journalists who have ethics and bloggers. Get what you reap.
No, it's not right to name her at this point in time.
Maybe this woman was assaulted, and if so, that is horrible and I feel just awful for her. If she is making this up to get money then she is absolute pond scum because women that do that make it so much more difficult for the true victims.
That being said, if someone IS assaulted, they should go to the police. Immediately. Barring that, as soon as they've got themselves in a state where they can. They should NOT simply file a lawsuit to get money. That makes most of my sympathy for them go right out the window! If you are truely assaulted, you report them, you turn them in, you don't want them to be able to do this to someone else! You don't simply take your cool million and wash your hands of the situation.
I may be incorrect about this, but I believe that filing a criminal charge does not prevent you from filing a subsequent lawsuit once the criminal charge is resolved. So someone that files ONLY a lawsuit... very suspect in my mind.
Unless someone 'makes' you go report I think most people would go home and try to scrub it all off. This is a very mind numbing thing and while you still may be able to function routine tasks- You try and pretend you are still the same person but people around you will notice a change. I was 'lucky' that my roommate forced me to go and get a kit done. Thank g*D I wasn't in Palin's Alaska and I didn't have to pay for it!! Seriously, wt?.But I was just out of collage, my Dad was dying of Leukemia, my boss at the time was involved.
It just all sucked. I was 21 and just went silent wore black ,invisible don't see me clothes. I had a dying parent so if I burst into tears= normal. But even so there was an older women at work in the catering kitchen who looked me in the eye and said 'what happened to you?' This was the day after, and I'd just met her that day. I burst into tears and one of the guys working the event gave me a shoulder (turned into a bff for 6 years) to cry on. So basically I told strangers. How could I tell my family etc? My Dad was going to die, soon. And here I was only damaged but presumably living.
What I read said she had been involved in 'lawsuits before' not that she ran around town screaming rape.
I would imagine that if management knew she would be pressured to not tell -stupid bottom dollar.
Anyway I'm taking the wounded ones side. True or not, it's a dialogue worth having on site with a high female comment rate.
Forgot to say I did go the police the next day. At the time ther was a scale of assult that needed to be met. And I had no extensive brusing/blood. So they would not go on with criminal case (since the males denied it).
I did go to a civil case as I had no health insurance and I needed to pay for mental health therapy. In the end the perp's insurance paid out to my provider.
So a civil suit does NOT always mean someone is going after dollars. I can also mean that it is the only way possible to get any form of medical attention.
I also went to free group sessions. But this is something you want to unlive and get past not hear one more horrible story after another.
I saw the picture of this so called "accuser" and Ben can do so much better than that. She isn't attractive and I believe she is out for some money.
This sounds really out of character for Roethlisberger. Her story sounds kind of fake...um ma'am....can you fix my TV? Don't believe her.
I am not judging if she is lying or not, but I can understand why she may not have reported it to the police. I read that the reason was because the hotel management pressured her not to, and she thought hotel security would investigate it. Seems plausible.
I was in a situation where a coworker kept grabbing my breasts and the company did not want to do anything about it unless it was caught on surveillance video. I was traumatized and needless to say I quit that job shortly after. Then not long after, I was assaulted by another man, and I would not have gone to the police if my friend had not made me go. Very traumatic year.
Katja, I feel horrible about what happened to you and wish the worst for the scum that did it to you. But, I have to tell you that I (and others) love to come to CDAN as an escape from the politicized world in which we live.
So, the Palin dig? Not necessary. And to top it off - it's not even true. Yes, it was the policy in the city of Wasilla, but she neither passed the law nor did she enforce it. The Police Chief in Wasilla, Chief Fannon, didn't want to "burden the taxpayer" any further with the cost. The policy was to bill the victim's insurance for the costs.
Now, do I think it was a good policy? No, absolutely not. As a date rape victim myself I think it is bad policy to do that to someone who has already been victimized.
Hate Palin or love her, there are many on both sides, but don't use a possible rape case as a chance to get in a dig at someone - especially when it is easily debunked. And no, I didn't vote for the woman, but I would rather fight the fair and truthful fight than throw untruths around about people. Did you like it when the right pushed the Bill Clinton, rapist in chief, meme? I know I didn't and this kind of petty half truth is no different.
That being said - all politics aside at CDAN. There are many places to make these comments and a fun entertainment gossip blog isn't one of them.
The jury is still out on this on.
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