(Washington Insider Magazine)-CALIFORNIA (Transatlantic Today) – In the 1970s, when the women were minors and under the legal age of consent, a lawsuit filed in California alleges that former heavyweight champion and professional boxer George Foreman sexually abused at least two of them.
The lawsuit, which was filed on Wednesday in the Los Angeles Superior Court, does not mention Foreman by name but does identify the accused offender as a former professional heavyweight boxer who won the world heavyweight championship in 1973 by defeating Joe Frazier. On January 22, 1973, Foreman defeated Frazier to win the title.
In a statement to ABC News, Foreman disputed the accusations and said that people were “trying to extort millions of dollars from him.
According to the lawsuit, which was filed by a woman by the name of Denise S., Foreman began “grooming” her at a young age by bringing her out for ice cream and letting her sit in his lap as he drove his car.
Denise S. is the daughter of an Oakland-based boxer who trained with Foreman in the early 1970s, according to the lawsuit. It is said that she first met Forman when she was about 8 years old.
The alleged misconduct and sexual assault allegedly took place when Denise S. was between the ages of 13 and 16, which is below the legal age of consent. Foreman was older than 23, according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, Denise S. and Foreman reportedly had multiple sexual encounters when she was 15 years old, and she claims that on at least one occasion, Foreman sexually assaulted her in a hotel in San Francisco.
A new California statute that extends the timeframe for when an individual can file a lawsuit to seek damages for damage done by childhood sexual abuse is the basis for the complaint.
The statute of limitations for sexual assault claims is 22 years from the date the victim reaches the age of majority, which is 18 in California, or within 5 years of the date the victim discovers or fairly should have discovered that the sexual abuse was the cause of any psychological illness or injury sustained after the age of 18, whichever comes first.
According to the case, Denise S. claims she was injured in ways that surpass the court’s minimal jurisdictional limits, including mental and physical suffering and pain, past and future medical care and treatment expenses, and past and future loss of earnings and earning capacity.
She is requesting a jury trial and an undetermined sum in damages.
Denise S. claims in the complaint that she told Foreman’s friend and business partner, “Ron,” about the abuse. Ron reportedly informed Denise S. that Foreman had sexually molested at least one other victim while she was a youngster.
The lawsuit claims that Ron confronted Foreman regarding the assault of the two youngsters at least once, and that Foreman reportedly did not refute the claims.
The New York Times reports that a second case was brought by a lady going by the alias Gwen H. who claims she was groomed by Foreman when she was younger than 10 and that she met him.
Whether “Gwen H” is the second teen Ron is said to have known Foreman to abuse is unknown.
Foreman stated in a statement to ABC News that he will cooperate with his attorneys to expose the lies and deceit of his accusers and stand his own in court. ” I don’t start arguments, but I also don’t avoid them,” he added.
