Pete Rose Hit With Claims Of Statutory Sexual Assault

Pete Rose has been barred from the Hall of Fame over charges he bet on games — and now the baseball legend has been hit with claims of statutory rape!

Rose is currently suing John Dowd on defamation charges — after the former Major League Baseball special counsel said in a radio interview that the Cincinnati Reds star "ran young girls down at spring training, ages 12 to 14. Isn't that lovely? So that's statutory rape every time you do that."

Now the defense for Down has brought out a sworn statement by a woman claiming she began her relationship with Rose before she turned 16. The unearthed court documents have the woman testifying that Rose began the relationship with her while they both lived in Ohio, where the age of consent is 16.

Court documents also show Rose admitting to the relationship from 1975, when he was married and the father of two — but he also insists the relationship started when the girl was 16. The statement doesn't put Rose at risk of criminal charge, with the allegations made long before the statute of limitations in Ohio ran out for the accused.

Rose's original complaint said that Dowd's statement was "entirely false in every respect." Ray Genco,an attorney for Rose's attorneys, now says the release of the woman's sworn statement "won't be a successful litigation strategy."