Content warning: This article contains representations of alleged sexual assault.
Former Los Angeles goalkeeper and head coach byron Scott was accused of having sexually assaulted a teenager in 1987 in a new trial that was changed earlier this month.
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A woman filed a complaint against Scott in December 2022, alleging that he had sexually assaulted her during a team event at her high school nearly four decades when he was a member of the Lakers. Scott had fought to keep his name outside the judicial documents initially, According to the Associated PressAnd he was initially identified as “John Doe”.
However, a judge rejected his request in August, which is why he is now appointed publicly for the first time. The trial was then officially modified on May 1.
According to the trial, the incident took place in 1987 when Scott was 26 years old and the alleged victim was 15 years old. The woman, who was not appointed in the report, took courses at the Campbell Hall High School in Los Angeles when the Lakers came to visit for a team event. It was at this point that she said that Scott assaulted her sexually “in a concierge closet locked in the gymnasium of the school.”
Scott's lawyer did not deny that sexual contacts occurred between him and the victim, but said that he thought that the victim was the legal age at the time.
“Our client is devastated by this complaint,” said Scott lawyer on Wednesday, Linda Bauermeister, in a press release, via the Associated Press. “Our client thought that the applicant was over 18 and did not know that she would claim the opposite until 35 years later. He respects girls and women, and the statements blinded him and his family.”
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The trial was filed under a California state law which makes it possible to file older cases for minor complainants, according to the report. He also named the school, saying that school officials were negligent in their duties to protect the student from damage. The woman asks for more than $ 25,000 in damages.
Scott spent 14 seasons in the league, all except three with the Lakers. He helped the team win three NBA titles at the start of his career with the “Showtime” Lakers, then had brief stays with the Indiana Pacers and Vancouver Grizzlies before leaving the League after the 1996-1997 campaign.
Scott was hired as head coach of New Jersey's Nets in 2000, and he led the franchise to a pair of appearances in the NBA final. Later, he directed the Hornets of New Orleans, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Lakers briefly from 2014 to 2016. In total, he compiled a record of 454-647 as a coach in the League. He was appointed coach of the NBA year in the 2007-08 campaign with the Hornets. Scott is currently a coach in the Philippines.
