West Virginia AG addresses allegations against trans athlete plaintiff in women's sports SCOTUS battle
West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey spoke out in response to allegations of sexual harassment against a transgender athlete who has sued his state to block its law that keeps biological males out of girls' sports.
McCuskey, who is leading his state's legal defense against the trans athlete the U.S. Supreme Court set to review the case Tuesday, addressed the allegations at a press conference Monday.
"Any time you think of a child being harassed, it gives you pause as a parent. And it isn't really part of our case, but harassment of any child of any kind in this country is inappropriate. And it’s wrong, and we all need to stand up to ensure that children aren’t being harassed in any of their venues, particularly athletics," McCuskey said.
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West Virginia AG responds to harassment allegations against trans athlete
The allegations were leveled against the trans athlete by Bridgeport High School student Adaleia Cross, who is a former track and field teammate of the trans athlete when the two were at Bridgeport Middle School.
Cross' mother, Abby, told Fox News Digital what the trans athlete allegedly said to her daughter when they shared the girls' locker room during the 2022-23 school year. Adaleia was in eighth grade, and the trans athlete was in seventh. Abby Cross alleges the trans athlete made extremely graphic and vulgar sexual threats to her daughter and other girls on the team.
The trans athlete's legal representatives at the American Civil Liberties Union has denied the allegations.
"Our client and her mother deny these allegations and the school district investigated the allegations reported to the school by A.C. and found them to be unsubstantiated. We remain committed to defending the rights of all students under Title IX, including the right to a safe and inclusive learning environment free from harassment and discrimination," read an ACLU statement provided to Fox News Digital.
The Cross family's attorneys at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) responded to the ACLU's statement.
"Our client has sworn under oath and under penalty of perjury in numerous cases about the events that took place between her and the male athlete. As a result of the situation, [Cross] had to step away from the sport she loved entirely and sacrifice a key element of her school experience to protect herself," read an ADF statement provided to Fox News Digital.
The trans athlete personally denied the allegations to The New York Times in a story that was published Monday.
"I was not raised like that," the athlete said.
The outlet obtained a letter from the Harrison County School District, stating an investigation determined Cross's allegations "could not be substantiated."
The Cross family said when they reported the alleged harassment to the school, nothing was done to reprimand the trans athlete, to their knowledge.
"They told me they would do a full investigation into what I told them," Adaleia said. "And then, all of a sudden, it was like nothing else was happening, it was done, and it seemed like they thought nothing of it because they didn't talk to us about it at all, they just left it there and didn't tell us anything else, so it just made it seemed like, yup it's done."
Her father, Holden Cross said, "We received no response from the school after filing the report."
Fox News Digital made repeated requests to the ACLU and the Harrison County School District, which oversees Bridgeport Middle School and Bridgeport High School, seeking documentation related to the school’s investigation and clarification on whether an investigation occurred and, if so, why only the Cross family was not notified of the results. Those requests have not been met.
OutKick podcast host and former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines also addressed the allegations at the Monday press conference, recounting Adaleia's testimony, saying that the experience "traumatized" Cross.
"We have to worry about middle school-aged girls who have to worry about being told these things in an area of undressing," Gaines said. "The alleged things that were said to her, as a parent myself now, and I would imagine my husband would have choice words if someone said things like that to our daughter. Relaying some of the things [Cross] said to me, it traumatized her."
Gaines and McCuskey were joined Monday by the attorneys general from Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Montana, Virginia, Ohio, legal counsel for the AG of Alabama, and four other women's athlete activists; Olympic silver medal gymnast MyKayla Skinner, former U.S. gymnast and XX-XY Athletics founder Jennifer Sey, former NCAA volleyball player Macy Petty and former California collegiate women's soccer player Sophia Lorey.
The group gave remarks in support of the "Save Women's Sports" legal defense one day before the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two cases over the issue of trans athletes in girls' sports, including McCuskey's case in West Virginia and a separate case in Idaho.
Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador has been battling a lawsuit by a trans athlete who sued to block the state's women's sports law since 2020, called out that trans athlete for attempting to drop the case after the Supreme Court agreed to review it.
"This athlete never decided to dismiss the case until the petition for cir was granted by the U.S. Supreme Court. So when they knew that they were in the Ninth Circuit that they would win, they were fine with having this case heard. when they knew that they were going to go before the Supreme Court, they decided to try to dismiss this case. I think that's fundamentally unfair. I think that's gamesmanship and I hope that the court, the U.S. Supreme Court sees it that way."
Skinner reflected on her women's gymnastics career and becoming a mother for her passion in joining the battle to "save women's sports."
"Staying silent on issues that matter doesn't serve the next generation of girls. I've spent my entire life in women's sports. I know how rare and hard one these opportunities are. That's why what's happening right now at the Supreme Court and in the states like Utah matter so much more," Skinner said.
"Women's sports exist because men and women are biologically different. In gymnastics, women don't compete on the rings. Why? Because men are stronger. And events are designed around physiological reality. That's not controversial. It's common sense."
Petty shared her experience of having to play a transgender athlete during her college career, recounting the hard work and sacrifices, including missing prom, that went into earning a chance to play collegiate volleyball.
"But instead of showing off those skills that I had been training my entire life to build, they watched a boy slam the ball in our faces. Now, there were plenty of opportunities for this boy to play at the boys courts on the other side of the convention center where, mind you, the nets are over 7 in higher than our nets. But instead, it was humiliating. It was degrading to me as a female. And of course, it jeopardized my opportunity to even put that jersey on in the first place."
Lorey ripped California leadership, including Attorney General Rob Bonta and Gov. Gavin Newsom for continuing to allow the state to be a hotbed for controversial incidents involving biological males compete in girls' sports.
"Our own attorney general, Rob Bonta won't lift a finger to protect girls," Lorey said. "When I testified at the California State Capital in defense of girls, an assembly member compared what we were saying to times of Nazi Germany."
Sey, like Skinner, also recounted her experience as a pro gymnast en route to becoming a U.S. champion, said she never would have accomplished this if she had to compete against males.
"Why will little girls even bother to compete at a certain point when they know that it doesn't matter to our institutions that it isn't fair for them? I'm telling you, this is where this goes. They stop trying. They stop competing all together. Why would they bother if they have no chance of making the team, the podium, of winning? Eventually, they won't. They will stop trying," Sey warned.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita was the lone figure in attendance on Monday calling for empathy for the trans athletes, becoming visibly emotional while recounting an incident in 2022 when his state was sued by the ACLU and a 10-year-old transgender plaintiff for enacting a law to only allow biological females in girls' sports.
Rokita argued that the 10-year-old had been "co-opted by the left."
"That plaintiff in Indiana was 10 years old and I say my opinion is was co-opted by the left. That 10-year-old needs love and so do all the rest like her. That 10-year-old needs therapy. What that 10-year-old and all the ones like that person doesn't need is to be affirmed in the wrongness that was that case in Indiana," Rokita said.
"So to my colleagues, good luck tomorrow. May justice prevail."
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