Cowboys’ Prescott will not face criminal charges in ’17 assault case
Dallas police will not pursue criminal charges against Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott in the sexual assault incident alleged by a Fort Worth woman he met in 2017, but lawyers for the woman say the matter is not over.
According to the Dallas Morning News, investigators found “insufficient evidence” to support the woman’s claims that Prescott forced himself on her in the backseat of an SUV in the parking lot of the club where she worked seven years ago. Her attorneys contacted Prescott just a few months ago demanding $100 million in exchange for her silence; Prescott’s legal team announced a $100 million defamation lawsuit and criminal extortion charges in response.
Prescott admits to having known the woman but denies any assault took place.
“I want to thank the Dallas Police Department and Dallas County District Attorneys’ office for their thorough investigation of the allegations against Dak Prescott,” attorney Levi McCathern said in a statement, as reported by the DMN. “As we knew they would, they found nothing in their extensive exploration of the facts that would support a criminal prosecution. We are confident that at the end of law enforcement’s investigation into the extortion case that they will find the accuser and her attorneys just as guilty as Dak is innocent.
“As I have said from the beginning, Dak is a great football player, and an even better human. He would never assault any woman. These false accusations were brought up seven years after the alleged events for one reason and one reason only: to line the pockets of the accuser and her attorneys. Their behavior is an affront to all the true survivors of sexual assault.”
Representatives for the quarterback’s accuser said in a statement that “this is in no way an exoneration of Mr. Prescott” and made it clear they will not be deterred in pressing the matter.
“Unfortunately, it takes victims a while to come out, and that makes these cases hard to prosecute,” said Yoel Zehaie, the woman’s attorney. “But we thank DPD for their efforts. However, we are still moving forward with our counterclaims. …They have been giving us the runaround on setting a court date because their lawsuit was a pure PR stunt. They know the truth, and it will come out in this suit.”
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The woman’s lawyers just this week asked to have Prescott’s countersuit dismissed on the grounds that it violates a Texas statute prohibiting retaliatory lawsuits meant to silence sexual assault victims.
“If we are successful,” they wrote in an email per ESPN, “Dak could face severe monetary sanctions.”
McCathern called the motion to dismiss Prescott’s claim “total nonsense,” saying it “misrepresented the relevant facts and misconstrued the law as it applies to them.”
He added that his team plans to file additional claims for “malicious prosecution.”
