Los Angeles DA Declines to Charge Steven Seagal in Sexual Assault Case

The Los Angeles District Attorney's Office has announced that they will not be filing charges against Steven Seagal for sexual assault.

The District Attorney's Office did not release the name of the complainant. However, attorney Lisa Bloom said that the case involves her client, former model Faviola Dadis. The alleged victim reported the assault to the LAPD. Following a review of the accusation, the DA's office released a "declination," citing an expired statute of limitations.

Dadis accused Seagal of sexual assaulting her during an audition in the summer of 2002. Seagal, an actor, allegedly groped Dadis, asked her to strip down to a bikini and voiced a desire to enact a "romantic scene" with her. While speaking to The Wrap in January, Dadis explained the audition in detail. "And then he started pinching my nipples and grabbing my crotch area with his other hand,” she said. “I quickly yelled ‘This audition is over!’”

This marks the second time the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office has decided against bringing sexual assault charges against Seagal. Regina Simons accused Seagal of sexual assault in 1993 and similarly, the District Attorney announced in September they would not be filing charges because of the statute of limitations. Simons alleges that Seagal invited her to his home for what she believed to be a wrap party for the film On Deadly Ground. Simons explained that no one else was at the residence, which is when he led her upstairs and raped her.

Bloom has claimed that Dadis was 17 at the time of the alleged assault in 2002. In a statement, Bloom faults the justice system for requiring victims of sexual assault, who have passed the statute, to present more evidence than is required in other criminal cases. “Its hands are tied by this unfair law which bars the courthouse door even to young women like my client, Faviola Dadis, who is highly credible. The law fails to recognize that few minors are emotionally ready to seek justice against their rapists until many years later. Instead, it offers rapists a “get out of jail free” card if they simply pass an arbitrary time deadline. And the law seems to presume that victims are lying, creating an unfairly high evidentiary standard not required in other criminal cases. Few rapists commit their crimes in the presence of witnesses.”