Transcript of interview with Roethlisberger’s accuser and Poll on Your Thoughts

Interview by the Milledgeville Police Department with Ben Roethlisberger’s accuser on March 5 at 2:51 p.m.

DETECTIVE: “You feeling better?”

WOMAN: “Not really.”

DETECTIVE: “I’m just gonna be honest with you, straight up with you. When I ask you I might ask you a lot of detailed questions. Like I said, how old are you?

WOMAN: “Twenty.”

DETECTIVE: “We both grown so we need details, OK? Do you feel comfortable talking to me?”

WOMAN: “Yeah, I do.”

Here the detective asks the woman for her personal information, most of which is deleted from the recording.

DETECTIVE: “Let’s start out and say y’all heard Ben [would] be downtown?”

WOMAN: “No. We didn’t even hear. We went to [the Velvet Elvis bar] ’cause we were going out [on the town]. We went to Velvet. And we didn’t even see him at first. We went over and we saw our friends. It wasn’t even like, you know, we wanted like to go downtown just to see him. We went to our friends and then we turned around and my friend was like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s Ben Roethlisberger.’ So we were like, ‘Oh, cool.’ So we took pictures with him. He seemed really, like, nice at first.

“We were just, like, hanging out at Velvet. All these people kept coming up to him. And I was like, ‘Gosh, that’s got to be really annoying, you know.’ And so me and my friend, like, even went away, like, we weren’t standing around him the whole time, like we went away.

“We were talking to our other friends. I talked to the manager of the bar, Chandler, then they ended up, they just, like, left. Then we went to The Brick because my friend works there. So we went there because she was there. And then they happened to be at The Brick, too.

“We were sitting at The Brick, and it was him and his friend, Willie, who is the offensive linebacker, and we were all just, like, sitting up at the bar and he was just, like, talking to us.

“And it was, like, completely casual. Nothing, like, sexual at all until my friend, um, we had, like, name tags on because it was my friend’s birthday and she had, like, this silly, like, sex party, or whatever, and they had, like name tags like, ‘Hello, my name is…” and it said, like, status, um, something, and my friend made mine so I was, like, wearing it.

“And it said, ‘DTF,’ which is, like, ‘Down to [expletive] or whatever, which is silly, obviously, and I guess that he saw that and he, like, asked me about it, and I was like, ‘Oh, it was just this silly thing, like, I explained it was my friend’s birthday, she was just having this, um, she had these there and we were all just wearing them. We were all wearing them, too. And he was like, ‘Oh, well, I’m not down to [expletive.] I’m into [expletive] girls’ or something very crude, and we were like, ‘OK.’

“We were just sitting there. Then they got up and left and then we stayed at The Brick. Then we went to Capital, which they were also there. The entire night they never, like, told us where they were going or anything. It just, like, happened, like, we happened to be at the same places that they were.

“Then we went to Capital and as soon as we got there we saw all of them and they were like, ‘Oh, come to the back with us.’ ‘Cause you know it’s, like, partitioned or whatever to the back room so we went back there. And it was, like, all of us. They had, like, numerous shots out on the bar. He was like, ‘Here y’all, this is for you. Here’s all these shots.’ And so we were like, ‘OK.’

“We were taking shots and then his, one of his bodyguards came and, like, didn’t grab my arm but, like, was like, ‘Hey, come here.’ Took me to this back, like, door, like of this hallway. He, like, took me back there and I was like, ‘OK.’ And it was, like, really weird, like, how he did it. He was just like, ‘Hey, come here,’ and I was like, ‘OK.’ I didn’t know what he was doing. It was really weird. But I was just like, ‘OK.’ Like, I don’t even know why I went. That was stupid but …

“Went back there. He, like, had me sit at this stool. And then [she says either three or 30] seconds later, Ben comes back there. His penis is already out of his pants and I was like, ‘No, this is not right.’ Like, ‘I don’t agree with this.’

“I got up and I, like, went to the first door that I saw, which happened to be, like, a bathroom. And he, like, followed me in and shut the door. That’s when he proceeded to have sex with me, and the whole time I said, ‘No, we really don’t need to do this, this isn’t OK.’ Like, ‘We shouldn’t be doing this.’ Then he just, like, got up and left and then, like, I walked out and that’s when, like, my friends, like, ran up to me and we left. And we went to the nearest cop car that we saw.”

DETECTIVE: “Now you said he followed you to the bathroom. You were actually looking for the door to leave but you accidentally went into the bathroom. He came in behind you and shut the door. Let me ask you what position he had you in.”

WOMAN: “I honestly don’t know. I was so, like, frazzled. I didn’t know what to do. I was just, like, sitting there and I was, like, ‘We really don’t need to do this.’ ‘Cause the entire time his penis was just out of his pants and I was like, ‘This really isn’t OK,’ you know, it was like, it just happened so fast.”

DETECTIVE: “So did he penetrate you at all?”

WOMAN: “Yes”

DETECTIVE: “He did penetrate you. You don’t remember. I know you said he penetrated, Do you … What I’m getting is, you don’t know what kind of position you were? Were you bent over? He bent you over? Was you sitting down?”

WOMAN: “I don’t even remember.”

DETECTIVE: “You don’t remember?”

WOMAN: “No. It was just, like, ’cause the whole time I was just, like, scared. Like it’s this big man. And I’m, like, trying to, like, get away and he, like, shut the door behind me. And I was just like, weird, and. … I really don’t know.”

DETECTIVE: “Let me ask you this then, OK, when he came in with his penis out, came in the bathroom, you told him, once he penetrated, you told him, ‘This is not right?’ ”

WOMAN: “The entire time from — ”

DETECTIVE: “Oh, the entire time –”

WOMAN: “– the entire time from when the bodyguard escorted me he, like, came in 30 seconds later and I was like, ‘This isn’t OK,’ like, ‘I don’t know what’s going on.’ I was like, ‘This isn’t really, this isn’t right. We don’t need to do this.’ And I got up to leave. The whole time I was like, ‘This isn’t OK. We don’t need to be doing this.’ And then as soon as he was done, I guess he just, like, got up and walked out.”

DETECTIVE: “Did he have protection on?”

WOMAN: “No, sir.”

DETECTIVE “OK. Do you think he actually came inside of you?”

WOMAN: “I don’t know.”

DETECTIVE: “You don’t know. OK did you see him wipe hisself or anything?”

WOMAN: “No.”

DETECTIVE: “Was it dark in there?”

WOMAN: “Yes. It was totally dark.”

DETECTIVE: “OK. So no lights or anything? It was just pitch dark?”

WOMAN: “Yeah.”

DETECTIVE: “OK. Do you remember what you was leaning up against or what you were touching? Was you touching the sink, the wall?”

WOMAN: “No. There was a wall. I remember, like, I guess I was kind of against a wall.”

DETECTIVE: “Against a wall. Take your time.”

WOMAN: “I’m trying to like — ”

DETECTIVE: “Just take your time.”

WOMAN: “– figure it out. It was just so scary ’cause it, like, happened so fast, like the bodyguard escorting me. It was just, like, it was kind of like they, like, had planned it, you know, like the entire night was like, ’cause we were like, ‘Oh, why are you here?’ We asked him that at the beginning of the night and he was like, ‘Oh, just trying to change it up, you know,’ and we were like, ‘OK, that’s weird.’ You’re in a college town, he’s 28 years old. That’s weird.”

DETECTIVE: “OK. You remember, um, and like I said I don’t mean to be graphic or anything. He had his penis out. You notice any kind of tattoos, marks on him?”

WOMAN: “No. ‘Cause he, like, still had his pants on and he still had his shirt on.”

DETECTIVE: “Do you remember what kind of pants he had on or what kind of boxers or underwear he had on?”

WOMAN: “Mm-mm, ’cause everything was still, like, up. It was just like he, like, pulled his penis out of the top of his pants.”

DETECTIVE: “OK.”

WOMAN: “I mean I remember his shirt. He was wearing a black shirt, just regular blue jeans.”

DETECTIVE: “Ain’t nobody else beside your friends saw y’all go inside?”

WOMAN: “I don’t think so. Not that I know of. I mean there is a bunch of girls back there so I don’t know, like, who saw what.”

DETECTIVE: “OK. All right. OK. [Unintelligible]. Would you like anything?”

WOMAN: “Mm-mm. I’m OK.”

DETECTIVE: “When you accidentally went into the bathroom, he came in behind you, what was he saying to you when he was putting his penis into you? Was he saying anything, do you remember?”

WOMAN: “I remember he, I was like, ‘No this isn’t OK.’ He said, ‘No, it’s OK. I promise.’ The whole time I was just like, ‘No, it’s not OK.’ He was like, “It is OK. It is OK.’ I was like, ‘No, it’s not.’ ”

DETECTIVE: “Did you ever say, um, I know you kept saying, ‘It’s OK.’ (sic) Did you ever. [Unintelligible] Did you try to fight him back or anything?”

WOMAN: “No. Just ’cause I figured it wouldn’t help anything. It was just like he, ’cause I noticed throughout the night he kind of had, like, a short temper, like he would get really, like, defensive.

“I didn’t want, obviously, him to hurt me any more than he was going to. So I was just, like, ‘No, this isn’t OK.’ I didn’t want to fight him but the whole time I was like, ‘This isn’t OK. No, we don’t need to do this. This isn’t OK,’ you know.”

DETECTIVE: “And he kept saying what now?”

WOMAN: “He said, ‘It is OK.’

DETECTIVE: “OK”

WOMAN: “He said, ‘No, it is OK, no, it is OK. I promise.”

DETECTIVE: “OK.”

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