Pete Rose accused of sex with underage girl in 1970s in court filing

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

Via a court filing in a lawsuit, Pete Rose has been accused statutory rape.

WCPO reports that lawyers for John Dowd obtained a sworn statement from a woman claiming she had sex with the former Cincinnati Reds star player and manager in the 1970s when she was under 16, the age of consent in Ohio.

>> On MyDaytonDailyNews.com: Rose’s lawsuit against Dowd allowed to move forward

According to court documents, Rose admitted to a sexual relationship with the woman but claimed it did not begin until she was 16 or take place outside of Ohio, another accusation leveled against him. Rose was 34 and married with children at the time.

Rose filed a defamation suit against Dowd after Dowd told a radio station in 2015 that Michael Bertolini, Rose’s business partner and alleged bookie, told him he used to arranged relationships with underage girls for Rose during spring training.

Bertolini has denied saying that to Dowd, who compiled the report that led to Rose accepting a ban from baseball in 1989.

Rose denied that allegation and filed a defamation suit in federal court in Pennsylvania. Earlier this month, a judge ruled the suit could proceed.

Dowd, a longtime high-powered lawyer who joined President Donald Trump's legal team in June, is reportedly intending "to discredit Rose as a serial liar and a womanizer who regularly had sex with teenagers," according to WCPO.

Martin Garbus, a lawyer representing Rose, told WCPO that the woman lied in her statement and "Dowd has sent out a number of investigators, and he has spoken to many, many women in an attempt to get them to falsely claim that Pete had statutorily raped a girl."

About the Author