Accuser was fearful of Ben’s temper

Associated Press

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga.

A Georgia college student said she felt powerless to stop a short-tempered Ben Roethlisberger from having sex with her in a bar bathroom even though she told him to stop, telling investigators: “I’m a little girl and he’s a big boy.”

Her interviews with police were among more than 50 audio and video clips released Wednesday from the investigation into Roethlisberger’s late-night carousing in a Georgia college town, a sordid incident that didn’t result in criminal charges but reinforced his reputation for petulant behavior and earned him an NFL suspension.

The DVDs offered the first extensive account by the accuser, who hasn’t spoken publicly, as well as less than a minute of shaky Roethlisberger footage from the club. With loud music blaring, the Pittsburgh Steelers star asks a girl what her drink tastes like, doles out high-fives, strikes a pose, punches his fist in the air twice and flashes a huge grin for the camera.

Before the night was done, he was accused of sexually assaulting the 20-year-old woman, who said she didn’t try to fight him off because he appeared to anger easily.

“I noticed throughout the night he kind of had like a short temper, like he would get really, like, defensive,” she told investigators, but didn’t elaborate on what made her think that.

The local prosecutor determined there wasn’t enough evidence to warrant criminal charges, and he said the woman ultimately asked him not to prosecute the quarterback.

The accuser was interviewed twice by police — the first time shortly after she made the accusation early March 5, and a second time about 12 hours later at the police station.

The woman sounded intoxicated when she spoke with Milledgeville officer Jason Lopez in the first interview. Her words were slurred and she even says at one point, “Obviously, I’m drunk.” An audio recording of that interview was made.

During the first interview, she said she repeatedly told Roethlisberger, “I really don’t think this is OK,” but couldn’t stop him from having sex with her.

“I don’t know what I can ... do,” she said. “I’m a little girl and he’s a big boy.”

The accuser told police she is 5-foot-4 and weighs 145 pounds. Roethlisberger is listed at 6-5 and 241 pounds.

Lopez asked the woman if she knew why Roethlisberger would feel “it was OK to do this to you.”

While the accuser acknowledged wearing an explicit name tag, which was left over from a friend’s birthday party earlier in the night, she denied leading him on.

“I wasn’t forward in any way,” she said. “I wasn’t like, ‘Oh my gosh, have sex with me.’”