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Woman sues Roethlisberger, says he raped her

Accuser seeks $440,000 for incident; Harrah’s officials also named in suit

Image: Ben Roethlisberger Getty Images file
A woman is accusing Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger of raping her last summer in his penthouse hotel room at Lake Tahoe.

The lawsuit claims that when the woman first reported the attack to Hyder he dismissed her distress and crying and said she was “overreacting.”

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.

The suit also accuses the defendants of defaming her, including suggesting she was sexually promiscuous.

It said they also made false statements about her physical and mental health, including reportedly telling others she was hospitalized for schizophrenia when they knew her “problems arose out of having been sexually assaulted.”

“I don’t know enough of the details, but it’s a civil lawsuit, it’s something that we obviously will look into,” Goodell said when asked about it in New York during an unrelated news conference. “I’ve been in touch with the Steelers about it.”

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

Lockett confirmed that Roethlisberger had canceled a news conference scheduled Thursday to promote Shaquille O’Neal’s new TV series that debuts on ABC on Aug. 8, “Shaq Vs.” Roethlisberger is one of the top athletes the NBA All-Star center intends to challenge in a series of skills tests in their respective sports.

The Steelers clinched a 27-23 Super Bowl win over the Arizona Cardinals this year when Roethlisberger connected with Santonio Holmes for the game-winning touchdown in the game’s closing seconds.

Last week Roethlisberger played in the 20th annual American Century Celebrity Golf Tournament at Lake Tahoe, finishing tied for 30th in the field of 89 golfers. It was not immediately known if he stayed at Harrah’s.

© 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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