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Yesterday, in Milledgeville, Ga, Pittsburgh Steelers QB, Ben Roethlisberger, 28, found himself at the center of yet another sexual assault case. This time, (that’s right, he has been accused of hurting a woman before) a 20 year old girl, who had been out barhopping with friends, claims that Ben followed her into the women's bathroom at a Georgia nightclub around 2:30 in the morning and assaulted her. She went to the police early Friday morning and stated that Ben had sexually assaulted her. She was taken to the hospital after that, and was released later that morning. The young woman has dropped out of college for this semester, after some found out who she was, and began harassing her.
A high profile defense attorney has been hired by Ben on Monday to dispute this second claim of sexual assault. This same attorney also defended rapper T.I. on a federal weapons charge, as well as represented Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis in a murder case. Lewis’ more serious charges were dropped and he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of obstruction of justice.
Although Ben hasn’t been named as a suspect just yet, and all the facts have not been collected, and the investigation has really just begun, Ben’s attorney, Ed Garland, has already released a very strong statement of innocence, claiming: “The facts show that there was no criminal activity. No sexual assault occurred. Ben is completely innocent of any crime.”
Authorities also stated that Ben has yet to give them a DNA sample, but they will be obtaining one in the coming days. The young woman has hired her own attorney, and the police are interviewing eight people as well as reviewing video footage but would not elaborate further.
Ben, who owns a home about 30 miles from Milledgeville on Lake Oconee, is also being sued by a woman who claimed he raped her at a hotel-casino in Lake Tahoe back in 2008. Ben denies this allegation.
So what do the Steelers think of this situation? President Art Rooney II said Monday that the team is closely monitoring the situation. “All of us in the Steelers family are concerned about the recent incident involving Ben Roethlisberger in Georgia. We cannot comment on any of the specifics until law enforcement’s investigation is concluded.”
So, the question begging to be asked...is Ben Roethelisberger capable of sexual assault? He claims that he would never force himself on a woman, but the stories coming forward seem to counter that claim. Whether or not you are a Steelers fan has nothing to do with the fact that we, as a society, need to stand up and say that sexual assault will NOT be tolerated. I don’t care if she was drunk, I don’t care if she was dumb and left with him, I don’t care if he was drunk. Sexual assault is NEVER ok. It is NEVER “asked for” and it should NEVER be excused. If he has committed this crime, I hope the pig goes to jail for a looooooong time.
As for this woman being a gold digger (can you tell I have read other comments on other websites?) I ask, why would she be? This is the worst way to go about getting money out of someone, especially when they are so high profile. She went to the hospital. She filed a report with the police. She had to drop out of school because she is being vilified. To me, this sounds like a scared young woman who was assaulted and followed all of the proper channels to deal with the incident and is now being played out in the media as a “whore who just wants money.” This labeling of women and athletes has to stop! Athletes are not gods, and women who are assaulted by athletes are not gold diggers. We have taken our worship of sport figures to a dangerous level in this country and we see time and time again, that if you have enough money, you can get away with basically anything.
As for this particular case, this is the SECOND time Ben has been accused. How many more times will he get off the hook without having to even so much as explain himself to the public that so blindly worships him? And, if he didn’t commit this crime, someone needs to coach him off the field on how to act in restaurants and bars so that he won’t keep getting into such predicaments. It’s just so embarrassing
erikdolnack
“is Ben Roethelisberger capable of sexual assault?”
- The question shouldn’t be WHETHER he’s capable, but rather, whether he HAS committed sexual assault. Anyone is capable of sexual assault. The law should be equal and all should be equal under the law, no matter how wealthy, popular, or successful they may be. Ben has a right to trial by jury, and all are innocent until proven guilty, but if he’s found guilty, Roethlisberger should be charged and penalized according to the full extent of the law.