Other Roethlisberger Rape Allegations and Aftermath

[apex]

11/04/10 AM Edition

AM Edition:

NFL: PHI,KC & TB all worked out WR-D.Briscoe.
NFL: PHI,NE & OAK all hosted DL-D.Te'o-Nesheim.

PHI: If team finds trade partnet for QB-M.Vick, QB-J.Garcia coyld surface on their radar.
PHI: Worked out DL-L.Joseph & DL-J.Ross earlier this wk.

PIT: Sources report QB-B.Roethlisberger won't face charges.

SEA: Will host DL-J.Wilkerson on Wed night.

TB: HC-R.Morris to keep QB-B.Leftwich going into TC.
TB: Team to keep 2 HB committee.
TB: Likely to target o-line in draft.
TB: Hosting DL-T.Troup Monday.

 

[apex]

Re: 2010 Off-Season: Free Agency, Trades, Rumors, Confirmed News

he may be suspended for the first 4 games of the season though ..

looks like the steelers are purging their list of guys with off-field issues .. maybe Big Ben next .. one can dream can't they

 

[rosie]

Re: 2010 Off-Season: Free Agency, Trades, Rumors, Confirmed News

I always wonder how the process works for putting an established player up for trade and how soon the trade is stamped and processed.. the 4 week suspension is still pending and I only found out about that a week ago.. I'm not exactly crushed by this Holmes trade TBH.. on the flipside, I'm one of the lucky ones who has watched my team win 2 Supabah's and it may be a while before the next.. *shrugs* Big Ben is clearly skating on thin ice if the Holmes trade is anything to go by.

Holmes starts his season with the Jets in a four game suspension.

Ben isn't going to face charges on his second sexual assault. The DA mentioned Ben's conduct and that the girl and her family didn't want to prosecute. The Steelers organization needs to take a cold hard look at this man. With all the money he has, the ugly prick could pick up any sober gold digger to f*** him.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=chadiha_jeffri&id=5079124

 

[DB10]

Re: 2010 Off-Season: Free Agency, Trades, Rumors, Confirmed News

He could have at least got a haircut and/or shaved when meeting with the commissioner ...

 

[Woodson]

Re: 2010 Off-Season: Free Agency, Trades, Rumors, Confirmed News

Holmes starts his season with the Jets in a four game suspension.

Ben isn't going to face charges on his second sexual assault. The DA mentioned Ben's conduct and that the girl and her family didn't want to prosecute. The Steelers organization needs to take a cold hard look at this man. With all the money he has, the ugly prick could pick up any sober gold digger to f*** him.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=chadiha_jeffri&id=5079124

Relief is all I can say is the word of the day as a Steelers fan. I'm not going to defend him as a fan with his off-field issues but I have faith he can mend his relationship with the Rooney's and deliver on his promise.

 

[DB10]

Re: 2010 Off-Season: Free Agency, Trades, Rumors, Confirmed News

I read on a Ravens forum this morning that the reason the schedule isn't out yet (should have been released two weeks ago I think) is mostly to do with the Roethlisberger situation. Allegedly one of the hold ups is the league doesn't want an early season Steelers primetime nationally televised game losing its appeal in the absence of a suspended Roethlisberger. They've got headline games against the Patriots, Jets, Saints and of course Baltimore this season. NFL would never admit it, but it makes a bit of sense.

 

[JeffDunne]

Re: 2010 Off-Season: Free Agency, Trades, Rumors, Confirmed News

Wouldn't surprise me in the least.

Interesting the contrast with the AFL and turning Fev into a marketing tool rather than just a tool.

We get Geelong/StKilda/Bulldogs matchups just once, yet the AFL will make sure people like Ben Cousins & Fev get primetime, repeat matchups to cash in on the controversy.

The AFL resembles professional wrestling more and more every year.

 

[larkis]

Re: 2010 Off-Season: Free Agency, Trades, Rumors, Confirmed News

The AFL resembles professional wrestling more and more every year.

Couldn't agree more - Fremantle drafting a lot of players with blonde hair, the media always promoting Big Cox and Nic Nat. Not to forget that a few umpire errors can easily fix a game.

 

[Woodson]

Re: 2010 Off-Season: Free Agency, Trades, Rumors, Confirmed News

I read on a Ravens forum this morning that the reason the schedule isn't out yet (should have been released two weeks ago I think) is mostly to do with the Roethlisberger situation. Allegedly one of the hold ups is the league doesn't want an early season Steelers primetime nationally televised game losing its appeal in the absence of a suspended Roethlisberger. They've got headline games against the Patriots, Jets, Saints and of course Baltimore this season. NFL would never admit it, but it makes a bit of sense.

Right on the money there DB10. Big Ben will be more than likely face a CERTAIN suspension now >> GG has been banging the pots & pans for a while now...smart @rse << so all things considered, Steelers to get Sunday games to open up the season in first two weeks. The NFL schedule is normally released BEFORE the NFL draft every season. Announcement to follow about Big Ben from the NFL commish and hopefully the schedule gets squeezed out just in time for the NFL Draft. Busy times in the NFL.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Re: 2010 Off-Season: Free Agency, Trades, Rumors, Confirmed News

Other rumors....

Raiders in the process of signing lito sheppard.
Steelers considering dealing Roethlisberger.

Its amazing that the Steelers are ready to deal a two time SB QB in his prime.
They must know something we dont.

no way AD gets dingleberger, oakland likes rebels not “possible” molesters.

They really talking about moving Ben Rapelisberger?

Sounds like the Rooneys are really pissed.

you think Big Boing would expose himself to Jamarcus after seeing his **** in the locker room?

 

[Riggy1]

Re: 2010 Off-Season: Free Agency, Trades, Rumors, Confirmed News


2008 - superbowl champs
2009 - cant make playoffs
2010 - worse than the browns

looks plausible (if BB is traded)

 

[DB10]

Re: 2010 Off-Season: Free Agency, Trades, Rumors, Confirmed News

They won't trade him. How big is his contract?

Dixon looked good against us when he played in Roethlisberger's place though. He only really made the one mistake for the entire game - picked off by Kruger. That was it.

 

[Riggy1]

Re: 2010 Off-Season: Free Agency, Trades, Rumors, Confirmed News

They won't trade him. How big is his contract?

fair enough
I havn't come on much in the offseason
I've checked NFL.com twice and I've checked parts of this thread twice
so sorry if my knowledge is.....well.....below my very own standards

 

[DB10]

Re: 2010 Off-Season: Free Agency, Trades, Rumors, Confirmed News

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08064/862296-66.stm

eight-year, $102 million contract. It includes so-called guaranteed money of $33.2 million and has a $25.2 million signing bonus.

Signed in 2008 too. So who's gonna take that on if they traded him?

 

[manureid]

Re: 2010 Off-Season: Free Agency, Trades, Rumors, Confirmed News

Watched something on it on NFL.com and apparently his contract is actually a pretty good one for someone to take on. Most of his bonuses have been paid, and you are looking at only on average about 11 million a year for a franchise QB. Dont think that part is the issue.
The fact that he has some 'issues' outside of the game is probably the thing to consider if you want to trade for him.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Re: 2010 Off-Season: Free Agency, Trades, Rumors, Confirmed News

....

Bodyguards for Ben Roethlisberger were “actively involved” in bringing together the Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback and his accuser inside a Georgia nightclub, according to a report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Thursday.

A friend of Roethlisberger’s accuser, Nicole Biancofiore, told the Post-Gazette that the 20-year-old woman “was dragged by a bodyguard to the back room in Capital. She was extremely intoxicated and not aware of what was happening.”

The newspaper also reported that Roethlisberger’s personal security prevented friends of the 20-year-old woman from retrieving her from the bathroom in which the quarterback was accused of sexual assault. Roethlisberger, after a month-long investigation by Georgia authorities, was not charged with a crime.

According to the report, two of the accuser’s friends — Aliesha Scholten and Ann Marie Lubatti — separately tried to rescue the accuser from the bathroom but were unsuccessful. The newspaper reported that Scholten found the bathroom door locked before being escorted away by Roethlisberger’s guards; Lubatti tried to reason with guards, pointing out her friend’s intoxicated state, before being turned away as well.

“[Roethlisberger's guard] couldn’t look me in the eye, and told me he didn’t know what was going on,” Lubatti said, according to the report. “My friend went to open the door, and it was locked.”
——————————————————————————–

More: The Police Report at The Smoking Gun
Rooney: Roethlisberger Will Be Disciplined

——————————————————————————–

Big Ben’s accuser gave two statements to police, according to the Post-Gazette, one right after the alleged incident and another several hours later.

“Ben asked us to go to his “VIP” area [back of Capital nightclub]. We all went with him,” she wrote in the second statement, according to the newspaper. “He said there were shots for us, numerous shots were on the bar, and he told us to take them. His bodyguard came and took my arm and said come with me, he escorted me into a side door/hallway, and sat me on a stool. He left and Ben came back … .

“I told him it wasn’t OK, no, we don’t need to do this and I proceeded to get up and try to leave. I went to the first door I saw, which happened to be a bathroom. He followed me into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. I still said no, this is not OK, and he then had sex with me. He said it was OK. Then he left without saying anything.”

The investigation into Roethlisberger’s encounter with the woman began on March 5 — the night/early morning of the alleged incident — when the accuser, a student at Georgia College and State University, complained to police. An initial police report was filed on March 5 at 1:30 a.m. That report indicated that it was “unclear” what happened after the accuser was escorted by bodyguards to a “back room/hallway where the suspect was” because the accuser’s intoxication level fogged her memory.

The accuser’s first statement said that after the alleged sexual encounter with Roethlisberger: “My friends found me [and] talked to a Milledgeville [Georgia] policeman [and] he said to report it.”

 

[Exe Gesis]

Re: 2010 Off-Season: Free Agency, Trades, Rumors, Confirmed News

Btw, this is her facebook pic....

 

[Exe Gesis]

Re: 2010 Off-Season: Free Agency, Trades, Rumors, Confirmed News

A third incident...

“Also revealed in the GBI reports released Thursday was the fact investigators wanted to talk with a woman about a separate incident reportedly involving Roethlisberger.

The documents show that after the alleged assault in Milledgeville, a 16-year-old in a youth law enforcement program told authorities he knew about incidents involving Roethlisberger and a friend’s sister.

Authorities repeatedly sought to interview the woman, who is in her early 20s, but she declined. The teen had said he believed the two-time Super Bowl winner twice made unwanted sexual advances toward the woman.

A message seeking comment was left Friday with Roethlisberger’s lawyer, Ed Garland.”

 

[Exe Gesis]

Re: 2010 Off-Season: Free Agency, Trades, Rumors, Confirmed News

....

“Take the drunk broad into the bathroom. Have her sit there for a minute, and I’ll walk in with my schlong hanging out.” Classy. Way to go, Ben. Maybe Harvey Keitel will play you in the movie.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Re: 2010 Off-Season: Free Agency, Trades, Rumors, Confirmed News

Source

Ben Roethlisberger's Bad Play
Police reports detail NFL quarterback's unseemly night in Georgia

APRIL 15--The college student who accused Ben Roethlisberger of sexually assaulting her last month in a Georgia nightclub told cops that the NFL star approached her "with his penis out of his pants" and followed her into a bathroom, where "he had sex with me" in spite of her objections.

The victim's account is included in 572 pages of Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) records detailing the probe of the booze-fueled March 5 incident involving the athlete and the 20-year-old woman, both of whom had spent that evening barhopping in Milledgeville, a college town 90 miles southeast of Atlanta. The woman told police that the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback raped her in a bathroom adjacent to the VIP section of the Capital City club.

In one of two handwritten police statements, the woman recalled that she told Roethlisberger, "No, this is not OK, and he then had sex with me. He said it was OK. He then left without saying anything." After the woman reconnected with friends, they left the club and "went to the first police car we saw," according to one statement.

The alleged victim, in a second statement, told investigators that she met Roethlisberger at The Velvet Elvis, a Milledgeville bar where the athlete called her and her friends "a tease." Later, at Capital City, the football star's bodyguards "told my friends they couldn't pass through to get to me," she recalled. A Milledgeville Police Department incident report indicates that the woman, whose name was redacted from investigative reports, initially told a cop that she was "sexually assaulted or sexually manipulated" by Roethlisberger.

The GBI documents, which were provided to TSG in response to an open records request, include interview reports with several of the alleged victim's friends, all of whom are sorority sisters from Georgia College and State University.

One witness, Ann Marie Lubatti, told investigators that she saw one of Roethlisberger's bodyguards guide the alleged victim to a side door. Lubatti said that she immediately approached another bodyguard and said, "This isn't right. My friend is back there with Ben. She needs to come back right now." Lubatti, who described Roethlisberger as "noticeably intoxicated," said she was rebuffed by the bodyguard, who remarked, "I don't know what you are talking about."

When Lubatti later spotted her friend, the alleged victim said, "We need to go now." Lubatti said the woman told her that Roethlisberger "walked back to where she was with his penis already out of his pants. She told him that they shouldn't be doing this and that it wasn't right." The woman told Lubatti that Roethlisberger had followed her into the bathroom and shut the door. "She continued to say she didn't want to have sex, but he kept saying, "No, it's OK." Lubatti said that her friend told of having unprotected sex with Roethlisberger. After hearing her friend's account, Lubatti and another woman, Nicole Biancofiore, "walked up to the first cop we saw and told them what happened."

Biancofiore also told police about seeing her friend disappear with Roethlisberger inside the club. She recalled telling the club's owner that her friend was "too drunk to be back there" with Roethlisberger, adding that the man assured her that "Ben would not do anything to ruin his reputation." Biancofiore said that when her friend resurfaced, the woman was crying and "she told us he raped her."

Another sorority sister, Victoria Garofalo, recalled that the alleged victim was wearing a name tag with the initials "DTF." The tag--which the woman had received at a birthday party earlier that evening--was the subject of an inside joke between the students. When Roethlisberger asked about the initials, "Garofalo explained that 'DTF' stood for 'down to ****' and that it referred to a joke between" the women.

"I'm not down to ****, but I like to **** girls," Roethlisberger replied, according to a police report.

Witness Elizabeth Brooks told investigators of partying with Roethlisberger at Capital City, where he purchased a round of shots for women in the VIP room and announced, "All my bitches, take some shots."

The GBI records also include an interview report with Brad Aurila, a Roethlisberger pal who accompanied the athlete on the Milledgeville bar crawl. When the athlete's entourage returned to Roethlisberger's home, Aurila--who had noticed cops speaking with the NFL star at Capital City--asked Roethlisbeger what happened. "Roethlisberger explained to Aurila that nothing had happened," and that he was "in the back with a girl and they were 'messing around.'" Aurila recalled that Roethlisberger said the "girl slipped and he helped her up and then came back out." Aurila noted that "he took 'messing around' to mean 'kissing, whatever,'" according to a GBI report. He added that Roethlisberger's demeanor was "angry and shocked that this was happening" as he spoke of the allegation leveled against him.

The GBI records also include a floor plan of the Capital Club, with the dimensions of the bathroom where the encounter occurred, as well as a search warrant authorizing investigators to collect a DNA sample from Roethlisberger, along with "hair follicles, specifically head and pubic." The samples were not eventually collected from Roethlisberger, because investigators were unable to retrieve more than trace amounts of male DNA from the alleged victim for matching purposes.

In a March 17 letter to prosecutor Fred Bright, a lawyer for the woman asked that the rape probe be dropped. "What is obvious in looking forward is that a criminal trial would be a very intrusive personal experience for a complainant in this situation, given the extraordinary media attention that would be inevitable," wrote attorney David Walbert. "The media coverage to date, and the efforts of the media to access our client, have been unnerving, to say the least."

 

[Exe Gesis]

Re: 2010 Off-Season: Free Agency, Trades, Rumors, Confirmed News

Roethlisberger wont make the HOF

 

[Carl Hooper]

Re: 2010 Off-Season: Free Agency, Trades, Rumors, Confirmed News

Pretty dopey looking guy.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Re: 2010 Off-Season: Free Agency, Trades, Rumors, Confirmed News

And...

Posted by Mike Florio on April 16, 2010 1:59 PM ET
We’ve been trying to space out the Ben Roethlisberger-related blurbs, in order to reduce from 500 to 250 the number of e-mails we receive each day telling us not to write so many Roethlisberger-related blurbs.

Here’s one that has been lurking near the top of the stack. The police officer who received the initial complaint from the alleged victim in Milledgeville, Georgia has resigned.

Per TMZ, Jerry Blash admitted that he said something similar to “this f–king bytch is drunk” or “this bytch is drunk off her azz accusing Ben of assaulting her.” He also reportedly told the accuser and her friends that “Roethlisberger has a lot of money” and that if they make a police report they “would be wasting their time.”

TMZ reports that Blash resigned under threat of termination.

It’s unknown whether Blash’s statement affected the investigation. Coincidentally, he’s one of the cops who were photographed with Roethlisberger prior to the incident.

Report: Officer Resigns


.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Re: 2010 Off-Season: Free Agency, Trades, Rumors, Confirmed News

Also a good point...

So the the Milledgville officer who took the report resigned under threat of termination. What about these off duty pittsburgh police officers who served as Ben’s security. I know they were off duty and out of state. But aren’t they sworn to protect and serve the public. These guys were allegedly participants in a sexual assault. At least as accomplices. I’m sure their bosses are thrilled with their behavior as well. Scary.

 

[DB10]

Re: 2010 Off-Season: Free Agency, Trades, Rumors, Confirmed News

Roethlisberger wont make the HOF

Michael Irvin did.