The criminal investigation into allegations of sexual assault by Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has been closed by Dallas police due to insufficient evidence.
Prescott will not face criminal charges for an incident that allegedly occurred in the parking lot of a Dallas strip club in 2017. However, the legal dispute between the Cowboys quarterback and the plaintiff — an unidentified woman represented by attorney Yoel Zehaie — will continue in Collin County court.
As previously covered by The Dallas Express, the plaintiff filed a civil lawsuit in Dallas County earlier this year, demanding $100 million in damages. She claimed that Prescott exposed himself to her while they were sitting inside an SUV and that he “used physical force and sexually assaulted” her, per CBS News Texas.
Prescott’s attorney, Levi McCathern, has referred to the woman’s accusations as an extortion attempt. He filed a civil countersuit in Collin County in March. For this reason, the plaintiff’s legal representative recently moved to drop the civil suit in Dallas County to re-file it in Collin County.
“Our counterclaims against Mr. Prescott are still moving forward, only the criminal case is complete,” Zehaie said, per CBS.
Dallas County followed through with its criminal investigation into the alleged sexual assault.
“I want to thank the Dallas Police Department and Dallas County District Attorney’s office for their thorough investigation of the allegations against Dak,” said McCathern, per CBS. “As we knew they would, they found nothing in their extensive exploration of the facts that would support a criminal prosecution. We are confident that at the end of law enforcement’s investigation into the extortion case that they will find the accuser and her attorneys just as guilty as Dak is innocent.”
This year, Texas counties filed their first biennial reports on the efforts of sexual assault response teams (SART), as required by a state law passed in 2021. As covered by The Dallas Express, Dallas County’s report barely met requirements, contained no data or analysis, and was submitted several months late.
While counties across Texas are at different phases in establishing their SART, Rose Luna, CEO of the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault, explained at a recent webinar that progress is being made and tracked, as reported by The Dallas Express.
In Dallas, there have been 182 sex offenses committed this year as of May 2, according to data from the City’s crime analytics dashboard. Fondling only just edged out rape in terms of prevalence, logging 71 and 69 reports, respectively. The overwhelming majority of victims of sex offenses have been female (92.2%) and of color (40.1% black and 46.2% Hispanic).
DPD recently rolled out a phone option for reporting sexual assaults at Parkland Hospital, following reports of victims waiting hours for a forensic examination and some deciding to forgo pressing charges altogether out of frustration. Police response times have been a considerable issue due to a longstanding officer shortage. Just 3,000 officers serve Dallas, whereas a City report previously recommended a force size of 4,000.
Resources are expected to remain stretched this fiscal year due to the Dallas City Council allocating just $654 million to DPD, significantly less than some other high-crime jurisdictions in the United States, like Chicago and Los Angeles.