According to an article on the website of Houston CBS affiliate KHOU, attorneys for Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott have filed a civil lawsuit as well as a criminal report against a woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017, an assertion that his attorneys call an “extortion plot.”
Prescott’s lawyers reportedly received a letter from the woman’s lawyers in which they asked Prescott to pay her $100 million in exchange for her not reporting the incident 7 years ago to police or pursuing criminal charges against him.
There was no other way for the woman to seek payment since Texas’s statutes of limitations set a time frame of 1 to 5 years, depending on the claim’s severity, within which a civil lawsuit must be filed. That time expired for the woman 2 years ago.
In response to the demand of $100 million to keep the alleged incident secret and not seek a criminal complaint, Prescott made the issue public himself by filing a civil lawsuit against the woman and her lawyers along with a criminal complaint against them, as received by police in Prosper, Texas, in the northern part of the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Dallas’s WFAA said police there confirmed they received an Attempted Theft by Coercion filing on Monday, March 11, from Prescott’s attorneys. Included in the criminal filing against her was the letter from her attorneys threatening exposure of the alleged incident if she wasn’t paid $100 million.
Prescott’s attorneys called that an “extortion plot” based on a “completely fabricated story.” They said Prescott denies allegations that he sexually assaulted the woman.
An attorney who represents the woman responded by doubling down, as WFAA reported, calling Prescott “a liar and a rapist” in a statement made to the ABC affiliate late Monday night, March 11.
“We stand by the truth,” the woman’s attorney said. “Dak and his lawyers are trying to be bullies and play hardball and victim blame. We are not afraid of the truth. [The woman] has had to attend therapy and endure trauma because of the sexual assault. This young lady was in absolute tears in my office. Dak needs to be held accountable for his behavior. We are not afraid of him or his legal team.”
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Alleged victim claims assault was in an SUV
The woman’s legal team alleges that Prescott sexually assaulted her on or about February 2, 2017, just after the end of Prescott’s rookie season in the NFL.
The letter to his lawyers states that the woman and Prescott became acquainted through her job and that he invited her to hang out after communicating on Snapchat. When they eventually met, the letter states, Prescott picked the woman up in Plano while he was accompanied by two members of his entourage and two female friends.
The woman’s letter claims that the group entered an SUV, and Prescott told her to get in the back of the vehicle, where he allegedly exposed his genitals. The letter claims she told Prescott she did not want to have sexual intercourse.
The woman’s letter claims that after other passengers left the SUV, Prescott used physical force and sexually assaulted her. It also states that she’s had to live with pain and trauma from the incident in the 7 years since then, and she’s needed therapy and counseling.
The letter reportedly then states: “Despite the tragic events, she is willing to forego pursuing criminal charges, along with disclosing this information to the public, in exchange for compensating her for the mental anguish she has suffered.” It then asked for compensation in the form of $100 million.
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Did Dak Prescott deny sexual assault?
A press release from Prescott’s legal team asserts that he has “never engaged in any nonconsensual sexual conduct with anyone.”
It says the Dallas Cowboys quarterback has “great empathy for survivors of sexual assault. He fervently believes that all perpetrators of such crimes should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.”
Prescott lawyer Levin McCathern told WFAA that Prescott had a relationship with the woman but denies doing the things she alleges.
“She was a waitress at a bar he frequented,” McCathern said. “She came out one night with a group of friends and met Mr. Prescott and then spent an evening where they went to numerous locations.”
He said Prescott did not have sex with her. “He was a single guy at the time, and I would call it a make-out session.” He also said Prescott and the woman had interactions for several years and these were amicable.
Prescott attorney Jennifer Falk, a former prosecutor who handled sexual assault cases for almost 18 years, said she approaches each case wanting to believe the alleged victim, “but the moment I read the demand letter, it gave me great concern.”
She said cases such as this, which she called an extortion attempt on a high-profile person, undermine the progress society has made in believing victims.
Prescott’s lawsuit against the woman and her lawyers accuses them of a “blatant attempt” to extort him by weaponizing “patently false, yet heinous sexual assault allegations with no basis in reality. Defendants’ horrible lies not only threaten to destroy the legitimate legacy of a great man and cost him tens of millions of dollars, but Defendants’ conduct is criminal,” the lawsuit asserts.
They said the so-called extortion letter had forced Prescott to file his own legal actions to “bring the truth to light, defend his new family and promote our society’s collective progress in support of legitimate survivors of sexual assault.”
Charges against woman include defamation, conspiracy
As for Prescott’s criminal complaint, the charges listed against the woman and her attorney include defamation and slander, business disparagement, civil conspiracy, civil extortion/duress and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit seeks a trial by jury.
The woman’s “false claims undermine the courage of actual sexual assault survivors everywhere, as well as the legitimacy of the horrific traumas they have endured,” the press release from Prescott’s attorneys states.
It concluded by saying Prescott would donate “any and all recovery obtained through the lawsuit” to the Joyful Heart Foundation, a nonprofit group that assists survivors of sexual assault.
Get a Houston sex assault defense lawyer
If you or a family member faces a claim, accusation, allegation or charge of sexual assault, you must get an experienced Houston sex crime lawyer or sexual assault defense attorney to stand up for your legal rights. Your reputation and your freedom may be at stake.
