BALTIMORE — Ravens kicker Justin Tucker has denied allegations of sexual impropriety at several spas in the Baltimore region between 2012 and 2016.

In a story published Thursday by The Baltimore Banner, six massage therapists accused Tucker of sexually inappropriate behavior, including “exposing his genitals, brushing two of them with his exposed penis, and leaving what they believed to be ejaculate on the massage table after three of his treatments.”

Tucker, 35, denied the accusations online as “unequivocally false” and “desperate tabloid fodder.”

According to the Maryland Judiciary, as of Thursday afternoon, no criminal or civil actions had been filed against the Super Bowl winner in court.

Peter O’Neill, a criminal defense lawyer in Glen Burnie, said prosecuting Tucker on the allegations outlined in The Banner would be difficult given how long ago the behavior is alleged to have occurred.

While there are no constraints to when a felony can be filed against someone, O’Neill said the conduct described would not rise above the level of misdemeanor assault or a fourth-degree sex offense, both of which have a one-year statute of limitations.

O’Neill, who said he’s handled similar matters in court, said reporting the incident to management at the time the occur could be a “relevant consideration” in “determining the credibility of the accuser. The Banner reported that Tucker was banned from at least two establishments based on his alleged behavior.

However, without “speculating one way or the other,” O’Neill said Tucker’s notoriety and wealth present another challenge to the allegations, which are “inherently problematic” due to a lack of witnesses.

“It becomes a question of whether the therapist is believable or the suspect is believable,” he said.

Statutes of limitations would also apply to a civil suit.

In Maryland, civil actions must be filed, generally, within three years of their inciting factor. Some lawyers, however, may take on a case beyond that timeframe if a strong-enough argument can be made.

“We do see that with sexual abuse and assault cases, both adult and children,” attorney Michelle Simpson Tuegel said, “because people, especially when it involves someone like Justin Tucker … have a hard time coming forward and they think, what are the ramifications going to be if I do?”

Based in Texas, Tuegel was the lead attorney in the case against Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics doctor who sexually abused its athletes. The case ended in 2021 with a $380 million settlement.

Tuegel said in her experience, in cases where there are six victims, as The Banner alleges, there are usually more. The question, she said, is whether those people are ready and willing to come forward.

“If I’m his attorney, I am concerned that there are going to be other victims coming forward in a more recent time period,” she said.

Whether Tucker pursues any legal action himself also remains to be seen.

Just over an hour after The Banner’s story was published, Tucker wrote on X that he had retained a defamation attorney, whose involvement made the article’s allegations available to the kicker.

He described the news team’s interactions with him as being “marked by journalistic failures” and said he was not given ample time to respond to the claims.

“As a matter of principle, I respect when individuals come forward to report misconduct of any kind,” Tucker wrote. “I support a process that allows claims to be properly investigated. But, for the sake of myself and my family, I cannot allow false claims to go unchallenged.”

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Baltimore Sun reporter Brian Wacker contributed to this article.

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