Dak Prescott filed a $1 million civil suit on March 11 in response to a letter representatives sent him for a woman accusing him of sexually assaulting her after his rookie year in the NFL.
Bethel and Yoel Zehaie sent the letter to Prescott on Jan. 16. The letter allegedly attempted to extort Prescott by offering to drop any criminal charges against him and not disclose information about the alleged sexual encounter to the public in exchange for $100 million.
NBC Sports learned that the woman, Victoria Shores, is being sued by Prescott for defamation and slander, defamation per se, civil extortion/duress, business disparagement, tortious interference with current and/or prospective business relations, civil conspiracy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The letter reads, “Ms. Shores has had to live with this pain and
trauma for 7 years,” the letter explains. “It affected her relationship with her fiancé and her everyday existence so much that she had to attend therapy and counseling and will require future therapy and counseling. She has suffered mental anguish that is unimaginable when dealing with the trauma of being a sexual assault victim. Despite the tragic events, she is willing to forego pursuing criminal charges, along with disclosing this information to the public, in exchange for compensating her for the mental anguish she has suffered. Ms. Shores’s damages are valued at the sum of $100,000,000.00. You have until February 16, 2024, to respond to this demand letter.”Prescott’s lawyer, Levi McCathern, released a statement defending his character and told NBC Sports that his client has reported the letter to “appropriate authorities” and “will continue to cooperate fully in their investigation.”
The statement reads, in part, “Mr. Prescott — a new father to a baby girl — has great empathy for survivors of sexual assault. He fervently believes that all perpetrators of such crimes should be pun
ished to the fullest extent of the law. To be clear, Mr. Prescott has never engaged in any nonconsensual sexual conduct with anyone. Lies hurt. Especially malicious lies. We will not allow the Defendant and her legal team to profit from this attempt to extort millions from Mr. Prescott.”Prescott’s filing of the lawsuit against Ms. Shores effectively places the ball in her team’s court legally speaking, but according to a report from CNN, Shores is standing by her claims against Prescott. Yoel Zehaie told the outlet on March 12, “His team is trying tothis as extortion to change the narrative. We sent a demand letter, which is standard in the legal practice and in sexual assault cases.”
Zehaie also told 105.3 The Fan, a Dallas-area radio station, that the $100 million valuation of the claims against Prescott is not extortion but reflects the high price that should be paid if the allegations against Prescott are true.
“One of the most common phrases for wrongful death is, what’s the price can you put on a dead person’s life? Well, what’s the price you can put on a rape? The trauma that comes with that, the humiliation that comes from that? There’s not a price you can put on that.”
According to a press release issued by Prescott’s legal team, he plans to donate any judgment in his favor to the Joyful Heart Foundation, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to assisting sexual assault survivors.
Another of Prescott’s attorneys, Jennifer Falk, a former prosecutor who handled sexual assault cases, said that these allegations have the potential to damage the “believe women” social movement, telling WFAA, “I come into every case with kind of that lens to believe her, because that is what we should be doing socially,” Falk said. “But the moment I was brought into this case and the moment I read the demand letter, it gave me great concern.”