WNBA All-Star Layshia Clarendon sues Cal over alleged sexual assault

WNBA All-Star Layshia Clarendon filed a civil lawsuit Wednesday against the University of California-Berkeley, alleging she was sexually assaulted by a longtime athletic department employee during her freshman year at the university.

In the suit, initially reported by ESPN.com, Clarendon alleges she was assaulted by assistant AD for student services Mohamed Muqtar, now 61, a man she says she saw “as a mentor and father figure.”

Clarendon — who led the Golden Bears to the 2013 Final Four her senior season and has gone on to star for the Atlanta Dream — wrote an essay published on Mic.com in April under the headline “As a sexual assault survivor, I walked alone in my shame for years.” She said as part of a series of tweets Wednesday that she hopes her lawsuit will not only to lift the weight of shame she has felt but also "to make sure this doesn't continue."

Regarding the news today: I want the shame to not be my own anymore, because it's not my shame to carry, but it's something that I've had to carry. It's a horrible thing to live in silence, to carry that pain and that weight and the guilt. https://t.co/Ah5RjNOY29
— Layshia Clarendon (@Layshiac) January 17, 2018

My biggest hope is that he never does this to anyone else. That no one else has to suffer under his hand, or him violating their bodies again. That this would be the end of him assaulting people. #TimesUp
— Layshia Clarendon (@Layshiac) January 17, 2018

It feels there is a big level of responsibility there for me, to make sure this doesn't continue. And he doesn't continue to harm other people.
— Layshia Clarendon (@Layshiac) January 17, 2018

According to ESPN, the suit claims negligence against the university’s regents, at least in part, because she says the school didn't investigate "allegations of Muqtar sexually harassing and assaulting athletes." Muqtar also is named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

An employee in the Cal athletic department for more than 25 years, Muqtar has been placed on paid leave, the school said in a statement Wednesday night.

“Cal Athletics is and will always be committed to fostering a culture where everyone feels safe, welcome and respected,” the university said in its statement (via the Los Angeles Times). “Layshia holds a special place in our history for her contributions to Cal women’s basketball both on and off the court and we are saddened to hear of the allegations that are coming to light today.”