Roethlisberger Accused of Sexual Assault in Lawsuit
Published: July 21, 2009
A civil lawsuit has been filed in Nevada against Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger by a woman accusing him of sexually assaulting her in a Lake Tahoe hotel room in July 2008.
Roethlisberger’s lawyer, David Cornwell, said Roethlisberger denied the charge. “Ben has never sexually assaulted anyone,” Cornwell said in a statement.
According to the civil complaint filed Friday in the Second Judicial District Court in Washoe County, Nev., the woman accused Roethlisberger of assault while he was a guest at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe, where she is an employee. The suit, however, is also for libel and slander and is filed against nine defendants, including Roethlisberger. The eight others are reportedly employees at Harrah’s whom the woman accuses of defaming her following the assault and whom McNulty says did not adequately investigate her complaint.
Roethlisberger was in Lake Tahoe last July for a celebrity golf tournament. The woman said she was working on the penthouse floor at Harrah’s where Roethlisberger was staying when he assaulted her in his hotel room. She also asserts that she was hospitalized and suffered from depression.
A criminal complaint was not filed against Roethlisberger after the incident, although one could still be opened. She is seeking damages of at least $390,000.
“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,” Cornwell said. “If an investigation is commenced, Ben will cooperate fully and Ben will be fully exonerated.”
