Dak Prescott is right to stand up to extortion. But assaulted women deserve justice | Opinion
A Fort Worth woman has accused Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott of sexual assault. He has responded with a lawsuit saying she also extorted him. Sexual assault is wrong. So is extortion and making false claims of sexual assault.
A woman’s accusations should always be given fair hearing. So should a defense from those accusations.
On Monday, Prescott filed a lawsuit in Collin County against the woman who he alleges extorted him, to the tune of $100 million, to stop her from filing criminal charges or revealing what she alleged was a 2017 assault. Prescott decided turnabout is fair play: He asked for $10 million in damages for mental and emotional anguish.
In a text to a Star-Telegram reporter on Monday, Prescott held his ground, saying, “She is trying to get $100 million from me to ‘not report’ a rape case I obviously did not do.”
According to Prescott’s attorneys, the woman’s deadline was Feb. 16, around the time Prescott’s agents might be negotiating over his contract.
One of the woman’s attorneys told The Fan 105.3 FM that framing the letter as extortion was an effort to discredit her. The lawyer, Yoel Zehaie, called it a demand letter typical of civil cases. But there’s a problem there. The civil statute of limitations has expired. The letter that Prescott released indicated a threat to go public and file criminal charges.
If the famed quarterback committed sexual assault, the woman should have initially filed criminal charges — since the civil statute of limitations have expired — not extorted him. Since this news broke, she has decided to make a criminal case against Prescott, which suggests she believes her claims hold weight.
So far, the two parties have relayed conflicting information about whether Prescott knew the woman before the alleged assault or was with her that night. She contends that he was and that he’s changed his story about whether he knew her beforehand.
This much is clear: If the woman was sexually assaulted, she undermines her own claim — and the true accusations of other women who have experienced this terrible trauma — by attaching a hefty price tag to her allegations. Extortion is not the way to bring about justice or relief, nor does it help other women when they make similar accusations. Simply put, it’s hard to take a sexual assault claim seriously when someone says, I was sexually assaulted and I’m in anguish, but it’ll all go away if I receive $100 million.
Going to authorities is extraordinarily difficult and can bring denial, stigma and shame. But if Prescott is guilty of sexual assault, it should be handled in the criminal courts. So far, he’s denying this and it looks like he’s taken a stand against being financially exploited and falsely accused.
On the last point, good for him. When the “Me Too” movement first ensued, many men were automatically deemed predators and the default, many argued, is that women should be believed even when they presented little evidence against a man.
According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, upward of 63% of women don’t report sexual assaults, while anywhere from 2% to 6% are false claims. That doesn’t mean false accusations should go unpunished, though. When they do happen, they can destroy a man’s livelihood and reputation.
Trevor Bauer, a former pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, experienced this. In 2021, Lindsey Hill accused him of sexual assault. Major League Baseball immediately put him on leave. Last fall, Bauer finally was able to exonerate himself through audio and visual proof. Hill, too, had planned to extort money from the ballplayer.
Charges against Bauer were eventually dropped, and both parties agreed to a settlement without any exchange of money. Bauer was suspended by for 324 games initially and played in Japan while trying to make a comeback in the U.S. He lost $37.5 million in pay.
Men should not sexually assault women, and women should not make false accusations of sexual assault. Both are crimes and warrant serious consequences. If this woman’s accusation is true, Prescott must be held accountable and justice must be served.
But if it’s revealed that she made a false accusation, she should face consequences. Extortion is a crime, and it undermines any woman’s true story of sexual assault.
