OT - Roethlisberger accused of sexual assault....again.

[ReasonablySober]

http://www.tmz.com/2010/03/05/ben-roeth ... l-assault/

Those crickets you hear are from ESPN.

[an_also]

Ben Rapelisberger

[El Duderino]

I never can understand why young rich good looking athletes decide to sexually assault women given that there are countless other women more than willing to bang them. What a moron if true.

[Siefer]

I never can understand why young rich good looking athletes decide to sexually assault women given that there are countless other women more than willing to bang them. What a moron if true.

No matter how much power and control one has, there's a strong tendency in some to grab for more. If this is true, a big part of it is he probably gets off on the power trip.

[skones]

third times a charm.

[notoriousTJ11]

I never can understand why young rich good looking athletes decide to sexually assault women given that there are countless other women more than willing to bang them. What a moron if true.

I think it's a little more complicated than that.

[chuckleslove]

From what I heard the woman says she was "sexually manipulated" wtf does that even mean.

[crkone]

From what I heard the woman says she was "sexually manipulated" wtf does that even mean.

Saying your putting it one place and umm.... you get the drift.

[chuckleslove]

From what I heard the woman says she was "sexually manipulated" wtf does that even mean.

Saying your putting it one place and umm.... you get the drift.

Lol, I'm just saying phrasing it as sexually manipulated doesn't exactly say rape. I'm not trying to downplay that maybe something was wrong here, especially now that this is the second time he has been accused and I think this actually might give more weight to the original accusation in my mind. Just saying it is a strange way to phrase it.

[Be Here Now]

The weird thing is the town he was in is supposedly just a ****. What was he doing there?

i figured the first woman who accused him was just a money grubbing ho, but now, not so much. Ben's in some deep ****.

[chuckleslove]

i figured the first woman who accused him was just a money grubbing ho, but now, not so much. Ben's in some deep ****.

That is exactly what I was thinking. They always say where there is smoke there is fire.

[Wiscfan92]

My first thought for any case like this involving a professional athlete is, wouldn't most girls want to sleep with a professional athlete. And one as popular and successful as big ben.

[chuckleslove]

I didn't want to make an entire new thread for this but wtf is going on with Steeler's players. Every team has issues from time to time but I'm just not used to it from the Steeler's. I expect to see the Raiders or Bengals in this sort of thing.

Holmes accused of attacking a woman with a bottle and trying to bribe her to not press charges:

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/repo ... tack-bribe

Obviously both cases are preliminary at this point in time but I will say I'm glad this is not the Packers going through this crap.

[Turk Nowitzki]

Reading that article makes it sound like there isn't much that can be done about it if no police report was filed and no charges were pressed. Honestly, this sounds shady, but I bet this exact type of situation happens more than people think with professional athletes.

[humanrefutation]

My first thought for any case like this involving a professional athlete is, wouldn't most girls want to sleep with a professional athlete. And one as popular and successful as big ben.

That might be true...but some athletes have such a huge ego that they won't take no for an answer.

On another note...I do resent the assumption that a lot of people make when they hear that a woman is going to sue rather than press charges...the "oh, she must be a gold digger" argument. While that can be true, without knowing the specifics of this case, I can see very legitimate reasons why a victim of sexual assault would rather go through the civil side than the criminal side.

1. The standard of proof on the civil side is a lot smaller - preponderance of the evidence (51% chance it happened) rather than beyond a reasonable doubt. Sexual assaults are generally hard to prove...there are no witnesses in most cases, rarely is there dispositive physical evidence, etc. In most cases, the jury has to weigh some pretty ambiguous facts and make a call, and with the BRD standard, it's harder to convict. If you get a not-guilty verdict in a criminal case, it's that much harder to go into a civil case and try again because the defense can use that not-guilty verdict in their favor with a civil jury.

2. A lot of DA offices will choose not to prosecute 3rd or 4th degree sexual assault in Wisconsin because they're understaffed, it's hard to prove, and they think there are more important things to put their resources towards. Even if they do decide to prosecute, a lot of DAs will decide to just plead down to a far lesser charge, and the athlete will walk without really being punished.

3. It's easier and you have more control over the process. You don't need to worry about waiting for an investigation...a charge...arrest...DA's decision to prosecute...arraignment...plea bargaining...trial...verdict...sentence, etc. You file a lawsuit, you control the negotiations, you use your own resources, etc.

So, when I heard about the first Big Ben case and the Santonio case, I was wary about automatically bashing the alleged victim. And, with this second accusation against Roethlisberger, it's harder not to be more suspicious of his behavior.

[Enrique]

I can't stand how everyone is convicting him before he even gets a day in court. He very well may be guilty, but I wasn't there so I'm not going to judge him. I think it's absolutely ridiculous that the commisioner can suspend him before the trial.

[chuckleslove]

The police reports about this are absolutely disgusting and appalling. I honestly hope he gets suspended a minimum of 8 games for this and I hope for a full season. What he did was far more disgusting than what Michael Vick in my personal opinion. I also think this gives a lot more weight to the credibility of the first incident. Guy is a grade A scum bag.

[ReasonablySober]

The police reports about this are absolutely disgusting and appalling. I honestly hope he gets suspended a minimum of 8 games for this and I hope for a full season. What he did was far more disgusting than what Michael Vick in my personal opinion. I also think this gives a lot more weight to the credibility of the first incident. Guy is a grade A scum bag.

I have a hard time putting what Vick did up against what Roethlisberger allegedly did, but I agree with the rest. What was in those reports is disgusting.

[chuckleslove]

Both are disgusting, probably a bad thing to make a comparison and try to lessen what Vick did. I just find what Ben did to be so absolutely atrocious, it is pretty pathetic that there isn't more national outcry over it is really my big deal. There should be protesting and crap because what he did is completely unacceptable behavior.

[xTitan]

When this came out I first thought wow, just another stupid woman who will lay down for any athlete (have seen first hand a Packer fav at QB do the same thing in O'Danny's bathroom many years ago-she was a willing participant 4 this QB though and got heckled out of the bar upon finishing)...but reading the account of her being dragged in by the bodyguard and 2 seperate friends being stopped from getting her, then her saying no...............seems there is enough there to prosecute, he was one of my favs, now just another stupid frat boy rapist.