Former NFL cornerback Shareece Wright has revealed that he is one of 12 people who anonymously claim they were sexually abused by a former high school athletic trainer while they were minors.
ESPN reports that the alleged attacks occurred while Wright and the others were students at a Southern California high school, according to court documents and interviews.
Wright told ESPN that he hopes speaking out “will prevent this from happening to other kids.”
“The less it is kept secret, the harder it is to make it happen,” the 36-year-old said.
In September 2022, Wright was one of six former high school football players who sued the Colton Joint Unified School District and former coach Tiffany Strauss-Gordon.
Shareece Wright claims he was sexually assaulted by a former high school athletic trainer
Since then, six more have been added to the list of claimants. Strauss-Gordon – who has been suspended since 2022 – has denied the allegations and no criminal charges have yet been filed.
Strauss-Gordon’s father Harold Strauss, who died in 2019, turned Colton High School into a football powerhouse.
Wright claims he first met Strauss-Gordon when he was a 15-year-old college freshman. She was 21 at the time. He accuses her of grooming him through flirting, favoritism and giving him a nickname.
It is alleged that Strauss-Gordon inappropriately touched Wright during treatment sessions and performed oral sex on him in the training room.
Wright told ESPN that when he was 17, he and Strauss-Gordon had several sexual encounters in places such as the locker room and weight room. According to the lawsuit, as reported by ESPN, the couple had sex at Harold Strauss’ home.
“You’ve got football, you’ve got the coach’s daughter, you’ve got a permissive school environment where it’s allowed to happen — you’ve got this sort of perfect storm of sexual abuse that can easily be covered up,” said Wright’s attorney, Morgan. Stewart told ESPN. He also represents eight other plaintiffs.
The age of consent in California is 18. Adults who engage in sexual activity with a minor can be prosecuted for statutory rape. But local authorities told ESPN that no charges had been filed against Strauss-Gordon due to a lack of sufficient evidence.
She told police in 2022 that the men filed the lawsuit for financial reasons.
In 2011, Wright was one of three players from the school to be drafted into the NFL – more than any other high school in the country.
Wright was selected by the Chargers before going on to play for the 49ers, Ravens, Bills, Raiders and Texans. He played in the NFL until 2018.