A new wrinkle has been added to the ongoing sexual assault investigation involving Conor McGregor and a woman who alleges that the Irish superstar raped her in a Kaseya Center bathroom earlier this month.
McGregor was in Miami for Game 4 of the NBA Finals to promote his new pain relief sports spray during halftime. During his stay, McGregor was spotted inside a nightclub mixing it up with an unidentified woman. Per an initial report by TMZ Sports, things got out of hand when the pair wound up in a bathroom together. It’s there that the accuser claims McGregor became very aggressive with her, allegedly forcing her to give him oral sex before attempting to sodomize her against the bathroom wall.
Each day, new information seemingly becomes available, and today is no exception. After video footage emerged showing McGregor and his accuser together before and after the alleged assault, a text message exchange between the woman and a security guard charged with protecting the UFC star inside the arena has been released. ABC’s Local10 News in Miami obtained the transcript courtesy of the alleged victim’s attorney, Ariel Mitchell.
“The assault had taken place at midnight, and she messaged him (the security guard) at noon,” Ms Mitchell alleged to News10. “My client knows him from being someone who had been a security guard at previous games.”
The incident was reported to local police on Sunday, June 11. According to Mitchell, her client was advised to seek out an attorney immediately to avoid undertaking the inevitable media circus without representation.
“They escorted her outside of the Miami police precinct and told her that if she were to report that crime at that time that it would immediately go viral within 20 minutes,” she told the news station. That she should seriously consider hiring an attorney to either (a) resolve this before a police report is necessary or (b) to help her navigate once she did file a police report. My client was, as you could imagine, very afraid,” Mitchell said.
Miami Police reportedly declined to comment on the accusation that the woman was advised to hire an attorney while attempting to file a report.
Conor McGregor’s attorney, Barbara R. Llanes, of Gelber Schacter & Greenberg, believes this is nothing more than a ploy to extort money from the former two-division world champion. Llanes suggested that video evidence showing McGregor and his accuser drinking at a nightclub after the time of the alleged assault will help to prove the innocence of her client.
“After the video was released by TMZ, the claimant’s lawyer now has changed her story,” the firm said. “Mr McGregor welcomes the investigation, which he firmly believes will show the claims against him are false. After not responding to the demand for money made by claimant’s counsel, she turned to the media to apply pressure. This is no more than a shakedown” (h/t Sunday World).