NEWSIt's Getting Dirty! Nik Richie Ordered Back To Court To Face Off Against Bengals Cheerleader Yet Again
April 18 2013, Published 10:05 a.m. ET
Nik Richie is heading back to court July 8th to face off for a SECOND time against shamed former Bengal Tigers cheerleader Sarah Jones, and OKMagazine.com has all the exclusive details.
Jones, 27, is suing Richie, 34, and his controversial website, TheDirty.com , for defamation and libel over comments that were posted about her back in October 2009, claiming they affected “ her teaching position, her membership in the Cincinnati Bengals, and her personal life."
Two seperate posts appeared on the website — one claiming that Jones had sex with Bengals team members while she was working as a cheerleader and that she had sexually transmitted diseases — and the other that Jones, who was then employed as a Dixie Hights school teacher, had sex with one of her students in her classroom.
The plaintiff, Sarah Jones, pleaded guilty to sexual abuse in October 2012, admitting she had sex with a teenage student of hers
There's no disputing the second claim, as in October 2012, Jones pleaded guilty to sexual abuse and admitted to having sex with Cody York, her then 17-year-old student, while she worked as an English teacher— they have since married.
Richie and Jones previously faced off in court in January, but the judge declared a mistrial after jurors were deadlocked 9-1 in favor of Jones regarding her defamtion claim -- with the one disenting juror believing Jones' credibility was shot as she had lied about having sex with York.
The second count, relating to whether Richie showed 'reckless disregard for the truth' was ruled 10-0 in favor of the defendent, according to his lead attorney, Alex Ward.
"This is going to be a total do over," a source close to Richie tells OKMagazine.com exclusively about the upcoming trial. "Nik has to start the trial from scratch all over again. It's insane, this has been going on for nearly four years now and has cost him an absolute fortune, not to mention a non stop headache.
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"Nik's attorney had filed for CDA immunity, claiming TheDirty.com is protected under the Communications Decency Act, but the judge denied the motion AND his subsequent request to appeal that ruling.
Nik Richie, 34 maintains his innocence, arguing that his website, TheDirty.com is doing nothing different than YouTube, Facebook and Twitter
"So, now it's back to square one and Nik has to go through it all over again.... make no mistake though, he's going to pull out all the stops this time round — Nik's pi**ed and he's not going to just roll over and let Jones win.
"As far as he's concerned she's admitted to having sex with one of her underage students and that makes her a child molester in his eyes, so how does she have the right to claim anyone defamed her and ruined her personal life?!"
Richie's attorney argues that his client can not be held responsible for the comments as they were not written by him — TheDirty.com posts are generated by readers who are allowed to remain anonymous, but must agree to the website's Terms of Service, which include not posting false claims.
Jones and Richie's last courtroom face-off ended in a mistrial — round two begins in Kentucky on July 8th
"I'm not doing anything that's not on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter," Richie argued during their last trial. "It’s all the same."
Whereas one of Richie's defense team vowed, "Being rude is not illegal. I will fight to the death on that issue."
Jones is seeking a whopping $11 million in damages.
Are you Team Richie or Team Jones? Sound off in the comments, or tweet us @OKMagazine
