The New Zealand Herald

Thompson breaks silence on claims by Oz stripper

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Kiwi NRL player Bodene Thompson has broken his silence on his group sex scandal with some shock allegation­s of his own.

The 29-year-old former Warriors forward was this week embroiled in controvers­y after allegation­s from his former partner that he broke team rules to have sex before NRL matches and engaged in group sex with teammates, news.com.au reported.

Sydney Penthouse model and stripper Belinda Medlyn told the Daily Telegraph newspaper she consented to group sex with the former Gold Coast, Wests Tigers and New Zealand Warriors star and his teammates.

The pair have a 15-month-old son, Hendrix, who was allegedly conceived in 2015 while one of Thompson’s teammates watched.

Their relationsh­ip has turned into an ugly dispute over finances to raise their child. Medlyn claims Thompson has been late in making child support payments.

Thompson’s lawyer has said his client “doesn’t owe a cent”.

Now Thompson has responded to Medlyn’s claims by issuing a statement to the media.

Thompson claims he was the victim of an extortion attempt by Medlyn, claiming she threatened to go public with this story unless he paid her $50,000.

“I am most concerned that these allegation­s, which occurred many years ago, have been raised so publicly in a failed attempt to extort money from me to the detriment of myself and my child,” Thompson said. “This story has no benefit except to attempt to smear my reputation.

“The allegation­s and the fact that they have been raised so publicly are extremely hurtful to my family and I.

“I hope everyone can appreciate and respect my family’s privacy, particular­ly in light of there being a young child involved in this matter and my main objective is to protect him from these indelible articles being circulated.

“Although I do not wish to give any more oxygen to this story, I believe it is important to put the facts on the table.

“Ms Medlyn approached me in June 2017 threatenin­g that she would expose this story unless I gave her a sum of A$50,000. I refused to pay her this money on the basis that I was already paying her child support as assessed by the Child Support Agency.

“I love my son and I have been striving to have a relationsh­ip with him. Ms Medlyn has made this difficult, however I continue to seek avenues to pursue having a proper relationsh­ip with my son.

“I continue to meet all of my financial obligation­s to my son and work hard to ensure his future.”

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