Gloria Allred lashes out at NFL for letting C.J. Spillman play in 2014
California attorney Gloria Allred, who represents a woman who claims NFL player C.J. Spillman sexually assaulted her last year at a Texas hotel, issued this statement after Spillman was indicted on a sexual assault charge this week via the New York Daily News:
Once again, the NFL has clearly dropped the ball on a serious allegation of sexual assault made to the police in Texas against NFL player C.J. Spillman (who formerly played with the Dallas Cowboys).
Despite this sexual assault allegation for which Mr. Spillman is now indicted and another allegation of sexual assault made to the police in California by another alleged victim, prior to the Texas sexual assault allegation made to the police, the NFL continued to allow Mr. Spillman to play with the Dallas Cowboys.
Ironically, my client, the alleged victim in the Texas case reported the alleged sexual assault to the police on September 20, 2014, one day after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell held a major news conference in which he stated “I got it wrong in the handling of the Ray Rice matter. I am sorry for that. I got it wrong on a number of levels – from the process that I led to the decision that I reached.”
Despite the fact that on September 26, 2014, I delivered a letter to Commissioner Goodell’s office advising him of the police report alleging rape made to the Texas police on September 20, 2014, and despite the fact that after that I spent countless hours both in New York and California with NFL investigators who were investigating allegations against Mr. Spillman, the NFL appeared to do nothing and never informed me that they would take any action or impose any discipline at all against Mr. Spillman.
I am very happy that the criminal justice system will now try to move forward to prosecute Mr. Spillman but it is shameful that the NFL has taken no meaningful action in the interim.
Their face-saving P.R. campaign which, in my opinion, was designed to make them appear to be sympathetic to victims of sexual assault or domestic violence is now revealed for what it really was, a sham and a slick P.R. trick, because their words did not match their deeds in this case.
I look forward to the criminal justice system making every effort to make Mr. Spillman accountable for what is alleged in the indictment.
The NFL failed to do what Commissioner Goodell promised. He stated “I believe in accountability. I understand the challenge before me and I will be held accountable for meeting it.”
It took the courage of my client, a very brave young woman to take action in the justice system. Clearly there is no justice in the NFL system for alleged victims of NFL players. Unfortunately, winning seems to be far more important to the NFL than taking appropriate action for alleged victims of NFL players.
California attorney Gloria Allred, who represents a woman who claims NFL player C.J. Spillman sexually assaulted her last year at a Texas hotel, issued this statement after Spillman was indicted on a sexual assault charge this week via the New York Daily News:
Once again, the NFL has clearly dropped the ball on a serious allegation of sexual assault made to the police in Texas against NFL player C.J. Spillman (who formerly played with the Dallas Cowboys).
Despite this sexual assault allegation for which Mr. Spillman is now indicted and another allegation of sexual assault made to the police in California by another alleged victim, prior to the Texas sexual assault allegation made to the police, the NFL continued to allow Mr. Spillman to play with the Dallas Cowboys.
Ironically, my client, the alleged victim in the Texas case reported the alleged sexual assault to the police on September 20, 2014, one day after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell held a major news conference in which he stated “I got it wrong in the handling of the Ray Rice matter. I am sorry for that. I got it wrong on a number of levels – from the process that I led to the decision that I reached.”
Despite the fact that on September 26, 2014, I delivered a letter to Commissioner Goodell’s office advising him of the police report alleging rape made to the Texas police on September 20, 2014, and despite the fact that after that I spent countless hours both in New York and California with NFL investigators who were investigating allegations against Mr. Spillman, the NFL appeared to do nothing and never informed me that they would take any action or impose any discipline at all against Mr. Spillman.
I am very happy that the criminal justice system will now try to move forward to prosecute Mr. Spillman but it is shameful that the NFL has taken no meaningful action in the interim.
Their face-saving P.R. campaign which, in my opinion, was designed to make them appear to be sympathetic to victims of sexual assault or domestic violence is now revealed for what it really was, a sham and a slick P.R. trick, because their words did not match their deeds in this case.
I look forward to the criminal justice system making every effort to make Mr. Spillman accountable for what is alleged in the indictment.
The NFL failed to do what Commissioner Goodell promised. He stated “I believe in accountability. I understand the challenge before me and I will be held accountable for meeting it.”
It took the courage of my client, a very brave young woman to take action in the justice system. Clearly there is no justice in the NFL system for alleged victims of NFL players. Unfortunately, winning seems to be far more important to the NFL than taking appropriate action for alleged victims of NFL players.
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