Shareece Wright Speaks Out About Being Sexually Assaulted In High School

One former NFL player is using his voice – to bring awareness to sexual assault experiences by young men.

Ex-NFL cornerback Shareece Wright talked to ESPN last Friday to disclose that he and 11 other plaintiffs, who remain anonymous, were sexually assaulted by a high school athletic trainer when they attended Colton High School in Southern California. They were minors at the time of the incident, per court documents and interviews.

Wright said the goal of revealing the alleged assaults was to show other victims of similar incidents that they can explain what happened to them, too. “The less it’s a secret, the harder it is for it to continue to happen,” Wright said to ESPN.

Tiffany Strauss-Gordon, the alleged perpetrator of the sexual assaults, has denied the allegations raised in a September 2022 lawsuit that originally accused her of assaulting the 12 players. She has not been charged with any crime.

According to the ESPN report, Wright alleged Strauss-Gordon “touched him inappropriately” and had several sexual encounters from 2002 to 2005 across numerous Colton High School football facilities. The lawsuit says Wright and Strauss-Gordon had sex during “several weekly team dinners,” per ESPN.

The age of consent in California is 18, and adults who have sexual contact with minors could face charges for statutory rape.

Wright went public with the allegations more than 20 years after they events originally happened. But he is doing it for his two young sons, who he wants to protect from any similar circumstances.

“Being a dad and having kids and having nieces and nephews that are going to public schools, it just hit home,” Wright said to ESPN. “I just want to make the conversation comfortable for people to speak up about.