Tampa Bay Rays, an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida, has sacked the team’s physician on allegation of sexual assault.
A woman alleged through a YouTube video that 67-year-old Dr. Michael Reilly, sexually harassed and abused her when she was 16.
Reilly was dismissed by the team and reported to the police after the YouTube video was uploaded on Jan. 17 by a 26-year-old woman, Brianna Rah.
Rah claimed the doctor sexually abused her and barraged her with unwanted sexual advances when she was 16 years old and worked in his office.
“We have very recently become aware of the video accusing Dr. Reilly of sexually abusing a former employee of his medical practice.
“We have ended our contractual relationship with him, and we have alerted the St. Petersburg Police Department and Major League Baseball of this situation,” John Higgins, general counsel and senior vice president of administration, said in a statement to ABC News.
The St. Petersburg Police Department said it is investigating the allegations made in the video.
“It’s our duty to review allegations like this,” Sandra Bentil, a spokeswoman for the police department, told ABC News. “We’re just in the fact-finding stages right now.”
Reilly did not return a request for comment from ABC News on Wednesday. A woman who answered the phone at his office in St. Petersburg said he was busy seeing patients.
In a statement to ABC station WFTS in Tampa Bay, Reilly said, “I deny allegations of sexual abuse.”
“We did, however, have a consensual relationship when she was an adult, which I regret,” he said in the statement. “I’ve dedicated my life to medicine and making our community a better place to live, so having my reputation tarnished in this manner is disturbing.”
“The video has already had serious repercussions for me and my family. As a result, I am consulting with legal counsel, and I am not in a position to say anything further at this time.”
The video is titled “The Importance of Sharing My Story of Sexual Abuse” — the woman alleges that Reilly inappropriately touched her and tried to kiss her when she was working for him at his St. Petersburg practice as a teenager.
Source : ABC News
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