Pittsburgh Steelers starting quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger made an appearance in downtown Milledgeville, Ga. on March 4 and left the following morning with accusations of sexual assault on a Georgia College & State U. student hanging over his head.
A Milledgeville police officer was approached outside the Capital City nightclub between the hours of 11 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. by the alleged victim and witnesses with claims of sexual assault in the early morning hours of March 5. According to a police report, the assailant was described as a white male approximately 6-foot 4-inches tall and weighing 241 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.
According to a Milledgevile Police Department incident report and news release, Roethlisberger, a two-time Super Bowl winner, was identified by the alleged victim as the perpetrator.
The alleged victim was transported to Oconee Medical Regional Center. Police Chief Woodrow Blue said investigators would be seeking DNA samples from Roethlisberger. No charges have been filed against Roethlisberger.
Media responds
Within 24 hours, various national and local media outlets flooded the streets of downtown Milledgeville searching for information about the incident. Reporters talked to business owners, law enforcement and even GCSU community members.
National media outlets were camped out at various college student hangouts around town, eager to interview any student willing to talk. Many media members were interested in identifying the alleged victim, as well as gathering any information they could about the night the alleged incident took place. The more rehashing of minor details of the story by the media, the more the students seemed to be clamming up about the incident and wondering about Roethlisberger himself.
“I just think that he’s a really sad person and it’s really sad that they (the media) won’t leave people alone about it,” said senior Annie Jones.
In an e-mail sent out to campus, Vice President for Student Affairs Bruce Harshbarger, asked students and others to respect the privacy of the alleged victim and to refrain from spreading gossip.
“It is not in anyone’s best interest to publicly pass along details that would best be addressed by the proper authorities,” Harshbarger stated in the e-mail.
“I think all of this media being down here has been a big distraction and takes away from the school’s credibility,” SGA President Pro Tempore Marcus Green said. “I feel like it is intrusive to the learning environment because they are taking away from the reputation GCSU has built up as a fine, higher-education institution.”
Students react
Even before the allegations, students were a buzz about the star sighting in Milledgeville.
“I saw him at the Brick between 1 a.m. and 1:30 a.m., and there was a big body guard grabbing cameras and saying no pictures. The scene seemed pretty rowdy from what I saw across the bar,” senior Keri Allgood said.
Corinne Burstein, a senior mass communication major, said she saw Roethlisberger leave the bar around 1:30 a.m., and as he headed out the door the mob of adorers followed in suit.
Some time that night, Roethlisberger made his way to Capital City, where the incident allegedly occurred.
“I thought it was a big rumor at first. I really doubt he will be going back to Capital City anytime soon,” sophomore Thomas Linthicum said. “I don’t really go (to Capital City) because it’s shady, and things like this incident can obviously occur, and it happened.”
Some students have had their fill of talking about the alleged incident to media members and have made it known, stating they did not hear about it or that they were out of town. Yet, Roethlisberger has left his impression on the GCSU community and caused some students to question the entire situation.
Junior Haleigh Fine takes into account a broader spectrum of the circumstances.
“You can’t place all the blame on him. There were several people that said he was at The Brick and sitting at the bar where big groups of people, especially girls, were surrounding him. I’m not saying he was innocent by any means but both could be in the wrong,” Fine said. “He already has star power, and Milledgeville is small enough that when a famous person visits, everyone gets overly excited. So with girls throwing themselves at him, it would have been easy to act on his star power and (the girls’) over eagerness to be around him.”
Others wondered why he would chose the small town filled with 20 something-year-old college students when he has a vacation home on Lake Oconee, 30 minutes away.
“I was in shock and didn’t believe it at first and also wondered, why would he be in Milledgeville,” Victoria Reese, a senior education major, said.
Daniel Post, a senior, reflected a few months back on Roethlisberger’s previous history.
“I was surprised at first, initially because he was in town and second because he allegedly assaulted a college student. But this wouldn’t be the first time, because I knew he assaulted a girl in Tahoe,” senior Daniel Post said.
According to the Pittsburg Post-Gazette, Roethlisberger “has the reputation of a single young man who enjoys a night on the town and the company of women.”
“Honestly, the first thing I thought was OK, seriously man, you’re a professional football player, and you have to force yourself on a 20-year-old girl? Grow up,” Jones said.
Effects of assault
Sexual assault, whether it is an allegation or confirmed fact, is a heavy topic. According to the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network’s Web site, one in six women and one in 33 men will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime, and college age women are four times more likely to be sexually assaulted.
“Everyone has a different experience. I know a lot don’t report because it is a trauma and they aren’t sure what to do. Generally speaking, most people feel like they are going to die,” said Mary Jane Phillips, director of Counseling Services. “I was talking with the chief of police a few years ago and he asked me what a victim may feel under a sexual assault/rape circumstance. I told him, I just put a gun to your head, what are you going to do to stay alive? Sexual assault/rape is a crime of power; it is not about the sex, just the power, broadly speaking.”
Stephanie McClure, a sociology professor emphasized how strong the victim’s feelings about the incident could affect their behavior.
“Because it is, most of the time, someone you know, then you may never want to see them again, or try to erase every trace of them from your life,” McClure said. “There may also be guilt on the victim for being in a situation like that because they know or think that they shouldn’t be there and maybe that they almost deserved to have that happen to them because they were in that specific situation, which isn’t true.”
The next step
Both Roethlisberger and the alleged victim have hired lawyers. Roethlisberger hired Ed Garland, the attorney who has represented T.I. in his federal weapons charge, as well as NFL linebacker Ray Lewis, among others. The alleged victim has hired attorneys Lee Parks and David Walbert.
Blue also announced at a press conference Monday, that eight different interviews would be conducted with Roethlisberger and his friends about the night of the alleged incident.