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West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey has spoken out in response to allegations of sexual harassment by a transgender athlete who has sued his state to block its ban on transgender men from participating in girls’ sports.
McCuskey, who is leading his state’s legal defense against the transgender athlete, whose US Supreme Court is set to review the case on Tuesday, addressed the allegations at a press conference on Monday.
“Anytime you think about a child being abused, it gives you pause as a parent. And it’s not really part of our crime, but the abuse of any child of any kind in this country is unacceptable. And it’s wrong, and we all need to stand up to make sure that kids are not abused in any of their areas, especially athletics,” said McCuskey.
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West Virginia AG responds to abuse allegations against trans athlete
Allegations were made against Bridgeport High School trans student athlete Adaleia Cross, who was a former teammate of the trans athlete when they were both at Bridgeport Middle School.
Cross’ mother, Abby, told Fox News Digital what the trans athlete allegedly said to her daughter while they were in the girls’ locker room during the 2022-23 school year. Adaleia was in eighth grade, and the trans athlete was in seventh. Abby Cross says the trans athlete made very graphic and vulgar sexual threats to her daughter and other girls on the team.
The representatives of the athlete’s lawyers in the American Civil Liberties Union denied these allegations.
“Our client and her mother deny these allegations and the school district investigated the allegations reported to the school by AC and found them to be unsubstantiated. We are committed to protecting the rights of all students under Title IX, including the right to a safe and inclusive learning environment that is free from harassment and discrimination,” read a statement from the ACLU provided to Fox News Digital.
Attorneys for the Cross family at the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) responded to the ACLU’s statement.
“Our client has sworn under oath and under penalty of perjury in multiple cases regarding incidents that occurred between her and a male athlete. Because of this situation, [Cross] he had to leave a sport he absolutely loved and sacrifice a significant part of his school experience to protect himself,” read an ADF statement provided to Fox News Digital.
The trans athlete personally denied the allegations to the New York Times in a story published on Monday.
TOP DEMS KEEP SILENT AFTER TRANS PLAYER REPRESENTS SCOTUS CASE ACCUSED OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT, PRESS
“I wasn’t raised that way,” said the athlete.
The outlet received a letter from the Harrison County School District, which said an investigation found Cross’ allegations “could not be substantiated.”
The Cross family said that when they reported the allegations of abuse at school, nothing was done to reprimand the athlete, as far as they know.
“They told me that they will do a full investigation and I told them,” said Adaleia. “And then, all of a sudden, it was like nothing else was happening, it was done, and it seemed like they didn’t think anything of it because they didn’t talk to us about it, they just left it there and didn’t tell us anything else, so it was like, yup we’re done.”
His father, Holden Cross said, “We didn’t get any response from the school after filing the report.”
Fox News Digital made repeated requests to the ACLU and the Harrison County School District, which oversees Bridgeport Middle School and Bridgeport High School, seeking documents related to the school’s investigation and clarification as to whether an investigation took place and, if so, why only the Cross family was not notified of the results. Those requests were not met.
The OutKick podcast Host and former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines also addressed the allegations at Monday’s press conference, recounting Adaleia’s testimony, saying the experience “traumatized” Cross.
“We have to worry about middle school girls who have to worry about being told these things in the locker room,” Gaines said. “The things that are said to him as a parent now, and I think my husband would have some special words if someone said things like this to our daughter. Passing on some of the things [Cross] he said to me, it hurt him a lot.”
(Left) Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador (Center) West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey and (Right) women’s sports activist Riley Gaines speak at a press conference Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 before the Supreme Court’s oral arguments on two cases of the issue of transport athletes in women’s sports. (Courtesy of Republican Attorneys General of America)
Gaines and McCuskey were joined Monday by the attorneys general of Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Montana, Virginia, Ohio, the attorney general of Alabama, and four other female athlete activists; Olympic silver medalist gymnast MyKayla Skinner, former US gymnast and founder of XX-XY Athletics Jennifer Sey, former NCAA volleyball player Macy Petty and former California women’s soccer player Sophia Lorey.
The group provided a statement in support of the legal defense of “Save Women’s Sports” one day before the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two cases regarding the issue of female athletes, including McCuskey’s case in West Virginia and a separate case in Idaho.
Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador has been fighting a lawsuit by a trans athlete who sued to block women’s sports from 2020, calling the trans athlete an attempt to overturn the case after the Supreme Court agreed to review it.
“This athlete never decided to dismiss this case until the circuit petition was approved by the US Supreme Court. So when they knew they were in the Ninth Circuit that they were going to win, they were right about the trial of this case. When they knew they were going to go to the Supreme Court, they decided to try to dismiss this case. I think that is the basis of the court and I think that is the basis of the court. The US Supreme Court sees it that way.”
Skinner reflected on her career in women’s gymnastics and became a mother with her love of joining the fight to “save women’s sports.”
“Staying silent on important issues is not helping the next generation of girls. I’ve spent my entire life in women’s sports. I know how rare and difficult these opportunities are. That’s why what’s happening right now in the Supreme Court and in states like Utah matters so much,” Skinner said.
“Women’s sports exist because men and women are biologically different. In the gym, women don’t compete in the ring. Why? Because men are stronger. And the events are built around physiological reality. That’s not contradictory. It’s common sense.”
Petty shared her experience playing a transgender athlete during her college career, recounting the hard work and sacrifices, including missing prom, that led to the opportunity to play college volleyball.
“But instead of me showing off those skills I’d been training all my life to build, they watched a boy hit the ball in our faces. Now, there were many opportunities for this boy to play on the boys’ courts across the convention center where, remember, there are more than 7 nets above our nets. But instead, it was a shame. It was demeaning to me as my opportunity as a woman. First time.”
Lorey tore into California leadership, including Attorney General Rob Bonta and Gov. Gavin Newsom for continuing to allow the state to be the site of controversial events involving natural male competition in girls’ sports.
“Our attorney, Rob Bonta will not lift a finger to protect the girls,” said Lorey. “When I testified at the California State Capitol in defense of the girls, a member of the assembly compared what we said to the times of Nazi Germany.”
Sey, like Skinner, also recounted his experience as a gymnast on his way to becoming an American champion, saying that he would not have achieved this if he had to compete with men.
“Why do little girls even bother to compete at some point when they know that it doesn’t matter in our institutions that it’s not right for them? I tell you, this is where it goes. They stop trying. They stop competing all together. Why will they bother if they don’t have a chance to make the team, the podium, to win? In the end trying, they won’t. They will stop trying, “Seyy will stop.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita was the only person in attendance Monday to plead for sympathy for trans athletes, visibly emotional as he recounted an incident in 2022 in which his state was sued by the ACLU and a 10-year-old transgender plaintiff for passing a law allowing transgender women in girls’ sports.
Rokita argued that the 10-year-old “was chosen on the left.”
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“That plaintiff in Indiana was 10 years old and I say my opinion was chosen by the left. That 10-year-old needs love and so does everyone else like him. That 10-year-old child needs therapy. What that 10-year-old and everyone like that person does not need should be proven wrong,” said Rokita in Indiana.
“So to my colleagues, good luck tomorrow, may justice prevail.”
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