Former NFL star Marcellus Wiley accused of sexual assault in 1994, victim files lawsuit against him, Columbia University, and trustees
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Ex-NFL star Marcellus Wiley is accused of assault and rape by a woman who studied with the athlete at Columba University.
As per the lawsuit, the alleged incident took place in the fall of 1994 on the campus of the New York City-based university. The 48-year-old victim has also slapped the university and its trustees with the legal action.
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Administration allegedly ignored her assault report
She alleged that the administrators at the Ivy League school showed a "favoritism" towards Wiley, leading to the dismissal of her assault accusations back then.
“Defendant Marcellus Wiley told plaintiff he would come to visit her later that evening in her room,” according to the lawsuit.
The plaintiff replied, "Okay, but I don’t have sex. I’m a virgin." In response, defendant Marcellus Wiley laughed and said, "Relax, relax, wow! I don’t mean like that! I’m just going to come by there to get food from Grandma’s [Restaurant], so I’ll just come up to say hi before I head back."
The defendant then made a joke about "nobody liking to have sex with virgins."
Following her apology and assurance that she was being straightforward to avoid any misunderstandings, Wiley allegedly responded, "Ain’t nobody tryna have sex with no virgin! Don’t worry, I got you. Just coming to hang out while I eat. I don’t even have condoms on me."
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Wiley raped the victim multiple times
The lawsuit claims that the former sport star "began kissing her forcefully," and went on to rape her multiple times.
“[Wiley’s] actions were intentionally designed to cause plaintiff severe emotional distress or were taken with reckless disregard of the significant and/or substantial probability of causing plaintiff severe emotional distress,” the lawsuit claims.
After she reported the assault to the administrator, they didn’t take her case seriously, reports People.
At a certain juncture, Residential Dean Kathleen McDermott purportedly conveyed to the victim that she believed Wiley did not commit rape because the plaintiff "was not from America and had therefore misinterpreted defendant’s conduct because people from different cultures interpret things differently,” as stated in the lawsuit.
Since the fall of 1993, several other women came forward accusing Wiley of sexual assault/rape, as per the lawsuit.
The 48-year-old claimed that she was left in deep trauma, and later tried killing herself due to the incident.
Wiley proceeded to have a 10-season career in the NFL, serving as a defensive end for teams such as the Buffalo Bills, San Diego Chargers, Dallas Cowboys, and Jacksonville Jaguars.