NFL Won't Investigate Cowboys For Voyeurism After All
The Dallas Cowboys paid a confidential settlement of $2.4 million after four members of the cheerleading squad accused a senior team executive of voyeurism in their locker room as they undressed during a 2015 event at AT&T Stadium on Thursday, but the league won't be opening an investigation into the events.
ESPN first reported the voyeurism allegations against the now-former senior team executive last week, but in a statement to the outlet NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the situation is considered a club matter.
The cheerleaders' allegations, along with an additional allegation of voyeurism against Richard Dalrymple, the Cowboys' longtime senior vice president for public relations and communications, won't be further investigated because it is considered "handled," McCarthy said.
"The club handled the matter," McCarthy said.
ESPN reports Dalrymple was also accused by a fan of taking "upskirt" photos of Charlotte Jones Anderson, a team senior vice president and the daughter of team owner Jerry Jones, in the Cowboys' war room during the 2015 NFL draft, according to documents obtained by the outlet. The fan signed an affidavit that he was watching a livestream of the war room on the team's website when he said he saw the alleged incident.
Earlier this month, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said he doesn't see any way a team can investigate itself when speaking about the Washington Commanders' announcement of an investigation into former team employee Tiffani Johnston’s allegations that team owner Daniel Snyder made inappropriate advances toward her.
“I do not see any way a team can do its own investigation of itself,” Goodell said. “That’s something we would do and we would do with an outside expert that would help us come to the conclusion of what the facts were, what truly happened, so we can make the right decision from there. We’ll treat that seriously.”
A Cowboys representative told ESPN that the team thoroughly investigated both alleged incidents and found no wrongdoing by Dalrymple and no evidence that he took photos or video of the women. The team does not dispute that Dalrymple used his security key card access to enter the cheerleaders' locker room while the women were changing clothes, the outlet reports.
Dalrymple, who quietly retired on Feb. 2, issued a statement calling both allegations false on Monday.
"People who know me, co-workers, the media and colleagues, know who I am and what I'm about," Dalrymple said. "I understand the very serious nature of these claims and do not take them lightly. The accusations are, however, false. One was accidental and the other simply did not happen. Everything that was alleged was thoroughly investigated years ago, and I cooperated fully."