Roethlisberger denies allegations of sexual assault

In a complaint that reads like the rape allegations made several years ago against NBA star Kobe Bryant, Harrah's employee Andrea McNulty alleges sexual assault against Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in a lawsuit filed last week in Washoe County, Nevada.

But lawyer David Cornwell strongly denied the allegations Monday night, in a statement released to PFT. "Ben has never sexually assaulted anyone; especially Andrea McNulty," Cornwell said.

In the civil suit, which Cornwell confirms was served on Roethlisberger over the weekend and a copy of which our own Gregg Rosenthal has obtained, McNulty alleges that Roethlisberger asked her to come to his hotel room to fix the television, and that he thereafter forced her to have sex with him.

Roethlisberger faces one civil count of assault, one civil count of sexual assault and battery, one civil count of false imprisonment, one civil count of false pretenses, one civil count of fraud, and one civil count of intentonal infliction of emtional distress.

McNulty also claims that the coworkers named in the complaint thereafter defamed her by making allegedly false and inflammatory statements, and by allegedly serving as aiders and abettors of Roethlisberger's alleged misconduct after the fact.

Cornwell, a finalist for the position of NFLPA Executive Director who has represented in the recent past Saints running back Reggie Bush and Browns receiver Donte' Stallworth, points to the fact that no criminal complaint has been filed, and that no criminal investigation has occurred.

"The timing of the lawsuit and the absence of a criminal complaint and a criminal investigation are the most compelling evidence of the absence of any criminal conduct," Cornwell said. "If an investigation is commenced, Ben will cooperate fully and Ben will be fully exonerated."

It's unknown at this point whether McNulty ever has attempted to file criminal charges as a result of the incident, which allegedly occurred in July 2008.

"Ben will not be baited into a public discussion about his personal life, but we will defend
him vigorously," Cornwell said. "The limited value that Ms. McNulty derived from public disclosure of these viciously false allegations is the only value she will ever receive from Ben in this case."

Regardless of how this one turns out, it has the potential to serve as a significant distraction for Roethlisberger as the 2009 season approaches, especially if the lawsuit triggers a criminal probe.

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Roethlisberger does not have skin cancer

"Ben Roethlisberger does not have cancer, and neither does he have a Facebook page.

"There's no truth to it. I don't have any of that stuff," the Steelers quarterback proclaimed yesterday.

"That stuff" are accounts on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and any other social networking Web sites. Roethlisberger said he does not use them, including the one under his name that proclaimed he had skin cancer.

"I had a bunch of people ask me about it. Obviously it's not true," Roethlisberger said after yesterday's spring practice. "We had to go on our Web site to let them know I don't have an account. There's nothing going on."

Accounts proclaiming to belong to Roethlisberger were still listed yesterday on Facebook.com, MySpace.com and Twitter.com.

Roethlisberger said someone in the office of his agent, Ryan Tollner, has been working on removing such posts as this one that proclaimed he was sick:

I am sorry to all my friends cause I have not been on here in a while. As you may soon find out, I have been diagnosed with skin cancer. It is not too serious, but will need further (sic) attention. This has taken up most of my time. I will try to get on here more. I would appreciate your prayers!

Tollner posted this response on the Web site Bigbennews.com:

"Ben positively does not have Facebook or MySpace pages, nor a Twitter account! Any such postings are imposters and should be disregarded. We are actively working to end this problem with those companies."

Tollner could not be reached for comment.

Roethlisberger is among a growing list of athletes and celebrities who have been victimized by the growing popularity -- and apparent lack of security -- of the social networking sites. In the past week, Twitter accounts purportedly belonging to Philadelphia Eagles defensive players Assante Samuel and Trent Cole were exposed as fakes. On those sites, someone writing as Samuel predicted a Super Bowl for the Eagles, and "Cole" wrote about his new sack dance."

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