Nate Parker is once again at the center of another sexual misconduct allegation that happened while the actor attended Pennsylvania State University nearly 20 years ago. Though he faces no criminal charges for the incident, the allegation undoubtedly raises questions about the university’s handling of sex assault allegations.
A female student trainer claims that in 2000, while Nate was awaiting trial on a rape allegation, he exposed himself to her while she gave him a back treatment, reports The New York Times.
Parker allegedly told her he wanted to show her something, and then pulled his pants down exposing the top half of his penis, the report says.
The woman reported the incident to the school’s assistant athletic director and though the school encouraged her to file an official police report, she dropped the matter out of feared retaliation, writes The Times.
Nate’s lawyers have since denied the allegations. “This is the first Mr. Parker has ever heard of this,” his attorney David J. Matlof told the Times. “He recognizes the seriousness of the issue, but this claim is completely untrue.”
The deeply buried incident follows up to the highly publicized sexual assault involving Parker and “Birth Of A Nation” co-writer Jean Celestine that resurfaced after the film took off at January’s Sundance Film Festival. Despite positive reviews, box office numbers have fallen below projections, which many correlate to the negative press surrounding Parker.
