GET IT RIGHT
First test for Goodell sex-crime adviser
A CALIFORNIA massage therapist who claims NFL player C.J. Spillman attempted to rape her last year has agreed to meet with Commissioner Roger Goodell’s sex-crimes adviser, her attorney told the Daily News on Saturday.
Civil rights attorney Gloria Allred said the meeting was set up after the NFL asked if her client would meet with former Manhattan prosecutor Lisa Friel, whom the league brought in last month to advise Goodell on criminal cases.
The sitdown, Allred said, will show if Goodell and the league are serious about cracking down on players who are accused of raping and assaulting women.
“This is an important test,” Allred said. “This is the first case that will be investigated by Lisa Friel. I see this as a test of their process. What will they do? What will their process be?”
Allred’s client told police in December that Spillman, then with the San Francisco 49ers, attempted to rape her after she gave him a sports massage in her Santa Clara, Calif., studio. Spillman told police the allegations were lies and he was not charged after the incident.
“I think she is very courageous, under these circumstances, to talk to the NFL,” Allred said of her client. “To date, they haven’t done anything except hold a press conference to say they want to get it right and get their house in order.”
The woman said, according to a police report, that Spillman, now with the Dallas Cowboys, groped her and tried to rip off her pants after getting a sports massage at her studio. He also pinned her on the ground and tried to force her to perform oral sex, according to the report.
The 49ers have confirmed that police spoke to Spillman about the alleged attack, but no further steps were taken. Allred also represents a woman who told police in Grapevine, Tex., that she had been sexually assaulted by Spillman on Sept. 20 — the day after Goodell promised at a press conference to get tough with players accused of violent crimes.
Grapevine police are investigating the allegations.
Friel has asked to interview the woman who accused Spillman of the Texas assault, but Allred said she and her client have not decided if that would be appropriate.
Allred on Wednesday met with Friel, the former head of the Manhattan district attorney’s sexcrimes unit, in New York.
Allred said Friel declined to answer questions about whether Spillman, the Cowboys or the 49ers would be disciplined as a result of the incidents.
Spillman has not been arrested or charged in either case.