Retired NFL player, Marcellus Wiley has been hit with new accusations of sexual assault from four women, including a former ESPN production assistant.
Per RollingStone, the recent allegations follow filings from three other women who previously sued Wiley with claims of rape during his time as a student and star football player at Columbia University in 1994.
Allegations of grooming
The women’s attorney contends that Columbia bears significant responsibility, arguing the university buried complaints against Wiley and allowed him to project an image of “safety, respect, and integrity” that left future victims vulnerable.
One of the women who originally filed, says Wiley first made contact with her when she was 13, following an appearance he made at her school in Buffalo while playing for the Bills. Over the years, Wiley sent the woman, who was a child at the time, gifts, tickets and access to his home.She said he regularly invited her back, asking for help cleaning his CD collection.
“Marcellus Wiley raped me on my 18th birthday, after grooming me from the age of 13,” she wrote in the complaint. “If Columbia had properly pursued the complaints… I would never have been groomed and raped.”
“Wiley frequently mentioned his sociology degree from Columbia University, which led me to believe he was respected and trustworthy. He gave me the same CDs to clean over and over,” she wrote, adding that he called her his “little momma” and showered her with attention and gifts. “My whole identity was wrapped up in the belief that I would eventually marry Wiley,” she wrote.
The ESPN staffer alleged that in 2009, Wiley lured her to a hotel room under the pretense of a meeting. “He pushed me up against the windows of the room so hard I thought they would shatter,” she wrote. “I was petrified and believed I was going to be killed.” She added that “the assault was devastating to me, and I will live with the effects to this day.”
Wiley claps back at the claims
Wiley, who’s married to former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member Annemarie Wiley, called the claims “B.S” on his YouTube show.
“Defendant denies that he committed any of the wrongs alleged, denies that plaintiff or any other purported members of the class were harmed by him, and denies that the claims in the complaint are properly asserted as a class action,” Wiley’s lawyer wrote in an answer to one of the Jane Doe lawsuits.
A class action certification hearing is scheduled for May 12.