ATLANTA (AP) — Dwight Howard has denied accusations by way of a Georgia guy who says he used to be sexually assaulted by way of the previous NBA big name and someone else.
Stephen Harper filed a state civil swimsuit in opposition to Howard in July, alleging attack and battery, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional misery.
In a reaction filed this week by way of his lawyer, Howard described the 2021 stumble upon at his house within the Atlanta suburbs as consensual and asked that the case be disregarded.
Harper’s lawsuit says he met Howard via Instagram they usually exchanged particular textual content messages prior to arranging to fulfill at Howard’s house on July 19, 2021.
Whilst on his technique to the Gwinnett County place of abode, Harper says Howard texted him to invite if any other guy or girl may sign up for their deliberate sexual stumble upon. Harper says he informed Howard he used to be no longer .
As soon as at Howard’s house, Harper claims they had been joined by way of a person dressed as a lady who recognized most effective as “Kitty.” Harper says he attempted to withstand the 2 males, however Howard and Kitty compelled him to take part in sexual job.
“Mr. Harper used to be trapped in Defendant’s bed room and believed that he would undergo drawing close physically hurt if he resisted Defendant’s sexual advances,” the lawsuit stated. Later on, “Mr. Harper felt extraordinarily violated and humiliated, and used to be in entire surprise.”
Howard denied the allegations in his reaction, which says the 3 males agreed to “interact in consensual sexual job.” He requested for a abstract judgment, with court docket prices and lawyer charges to be assessed in opposition to Harper.
The 37-year-old Howard used to be an eight-time All Famous person, three-time defensive participant of the yr and one of the vital NBA’s maximum dominant facilities all through the top of his 18-year skilled profession.
He performed for seven franchises, maximum particularly the Orlando Magic — who took him with the No. 1 general variety within the 2004 draft out of Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy — and the Los Angeles Lakers, the group he used to be with for his lone NBA identify all through the pandemic-affected 2019-20 season.
Howard had 3 other stints with the Lakers, together with in 2021-22, his closing NBA season. He has profession averages of 15.7 issues and 11.8 rebounds in step with recreation, main the league in rebounding 5 instances.
However Howard additionally had the recognition as being a disruptive presence within the locker room, no longer spending a couple of season with the similar group over his closing six seasons within the league. Howard performed in Taiwan all through the 2022-23 season.
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Former NBA big name Dwight Howard has denied sexual attack and battery allegations filed in opposition to him previous this yr and requested a court docket to disregard a civil lawsuit he’s dealing with in Georgia.
In court docket paperwork got by way of ESPN, Howard stated Monday that he engaged in “consensual sexual job” with a person named Stephen Harper all through a July 2021 stumble upon at Howard’s Georgia place of abode. Howard denied that he led to any damage to Harper, in keeping with the submitting.
Within the unique criticism filed in July, Harper’s attorneys stated he and Howard first started corresponding over direct messages on Instagram in Would possibly 2021, with Harper starting up the change. Harper accused Howard of sexually assaulting him at Howard’s house all through the following July 2021 stumble upon.
“We absolutely expected Mr. Howard to boost the problem of consent in his Resolution,” Harper’s lawyer, Olga Izmaylova, informed ESPN, including that Harper didn’t consent.
Harper’s criticism additionally accused Howard of “intentional infliction of emotional misery” and false imprisonment. Howard’s reaction denied the ones allegations.
“What used to be a non-public consensual stumble upon used to be made public for benefit and Mr. Howard appears to be like ahead to bringing the reality to gentle in a court docket of regulation,” one among Howard’s legal professionals, Justin Bailey, informed ESPN. “The allegations in opposition to Mr. Howard are contested. Mr. Howard intends to provide the reality. In actual fact Mr. Howard blocked Mr. Harper on social media after which used to be faced with two choices ― pay to offer protection to his recognition or have a fabricated tale made public. In spite of being a very simple goal because of the subject material and his standing as a star, Mr. Howard selected to accept as true with within the justice gadget and can depend on all long run court docket filings to talk for themselves.”
Harper’s criticism contains screenshots of alleged Instagram exchanges between Harper and Howard from 2021, in conjunction with an Uber receipt of Harper’s shuttle to Howard’s place of abode at the evening of the stumble upon.
Harper went to police a yr later, in keeping with a July 2022 incident record from the Gwinnett County Police Division, which used to be got by way of ESPN. No fees had been filed.
“This record used to be made following Mr. Harper being blocked on social media and after the primary call for for cost used to be rejected,” Bailey stated.
In Georgia, the statute of barriers for submitting this kind of civil lawsuit is 2 years from the date of incident.
“We had some impartial investigation to behavior and Mr. Harper had some personal elements to believe,” Izmaylova stated, “prior to all of us felt in a position to continue with the lawsuit.”
Howard, 37, closing performed within the NBA in 2021-22 with the Los Angeles Lakers. He’s an eight-time All-Famous person and a three-time NBA Defensive Participant of the 12 months.