Pete Rose's Defamation Lawsuit Against John Dowd Settled Outside Court
Pete Rose's lawsuit against John Dowd, who claimed that Rose committed statutory rape during his managerial career, has been dismissed after the two sides settled outside of court. The news was reported by ESPN's William Weinbaum.
A statement from both Rose's and Dowd's legal team reads as follows, per Weinbaum: "Pete Rose and John Dowd have agreed, based on mutual consideration, to the dismissal with prejudice of Mr. Rose's lawsuit against Mr. Dowd. I am not permitted to comment further regarding the resolution of the matter."
Dowd is the same lawyer who headed Major League Baseball's probe into Rose's conduct which resulted in Rose, the league's all time leader in hits, being banned from baseball for life for gambling on the sport. Coincidentally, Dowd is now the chief lawyer for President Donald Trump's legal team for the Russia investigation.
Dowd said on a radio show that one of Rose's former associates "told us that not only did he run bets, but he ran young girls for him down in spring training, ages 12 to 14."
Dowd's legal team had prepared a sworn statement from a girl who said she had sexual relations with Rose before she turned 16, which was the legal age of consent in her native Ohio. After news of the statement went public, Rose was fired from his position as an MLB analyst for Fox Sports.
