Dak Prescott no longer under criminal investigation by Dallas police over sexual assault claim
The Dallas police is no longer probing sexual assault claims made against Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, according to Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The police had announced in March they were investigating a woman's claim that Prescott assaulted her, but said Thursday they couldn't find enough evidence:
Per Dallas police spokesman Kristin Lowman, “An investigation was conducted and the case is closed ... Detectives determined there was insufficient evidence an offense was committed.”
It was Prescott's camp that brought the allegations against him into the public eye. They filed a civil lawsuit claiming the woman was attempting to extort him with false accusations of sexual assault, with a demand of $100 million to not report allegations to the police.
The woman's attorney, Yoel Zehaie, quickly filed a countersuit with the sexual assault allegations, claiming the incident had occurred on Feb. 2, 2017, in the parking lot of XTC Cabaret, a Dallas strip club. Zehaie called the incident a rape.
That lawsuit was later dropped and refiled in Collin County, where it could be in the same court as Prescott's claim. Zehaie told the Star-Telegram they would be moving forward with their suit despite police dropping the case, claiming that the investigation had shown inconsistencies in Prescott's story:
“Unfortunately, it takes a while for victims to come out and that can make it very difficult to prosecute these cases,” Zehaie said in an email to The Star-Telegram. “We thank DPD for their efforts and this is in no way an exoneration of Mr. Prescott.
“In fact, we believe that the investigation showed there were inconsistencies with Mr. Prescott’s story and are moving forward with the counterclaims we have filed. This is not the beginning of the end but the end of the beginning in what will be a long legal battle for months to come.”
Prescott's attorney, Levi McCathern, unsurprisingly took on a different tone, predicting that the woman and her attorneys would be found "guilty" once all investigations were finished in a statement to Shan Shariff of 105.3 The Fan:
"I want to thank the Dallas Police Department and Dallas District attorneys' office for their thorough investigation of the allegations against Dak Prosper (sic). 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, but an even better human. He would never assault any woman. These false accusations were brought up 7 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 abuse. Fortunately, for everyone involved Justice will prevail and I believe a harsh punishment is coming for these extorters."
Zehaie and McCathern have clashed in the public eye since the lawsuits were filed, with Zehaie claiming his counterpart "has a history of calling every woman who sues his client an extortionist," per the Star-Telegram. McCathern has stood firm, calling the allegations against Prescott "completely false and criminal."
Prescott has pledged to donate all proceeds from his lawsuit to the Joyful Heart Foundation, which works to fight sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse. This legal fight has occurred in what was already a tense offseason for him, with contract extension negotiations with the Cowboys still ongoing one year before he's set to hit free agency.
