We've previously noted the story of Demetrius Bell, the offensive tackle who was drafted by the Buffalo Bills on Sunday and who spent his entire childhood without any support from his father -- NBA star Karl Malone.But as bad as being a deadbeat dad makes Malone look, this column by Allen Wilson of the Buffalo News makes him look worse:
So far, Malone has said nothing publicly about Bell. But he needs to now. Wilson's column accuses him of a very serious crime -- sex with a 12- or 13-year-old girl -- and Malone needs to explain himself.Bell is the son of Malone, but the Mailman had no role in Bell's success except passing along athletic genes.
The two have had very little contact during Bell's life. His mother, Gloria Bell, reportedly was only 13 years old and Malone a college sophomore at Louisiana Tech when Demetrius was born. Malone might have served jail time had her family asked the district attorney to file criminal charges.
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. Wow, 12? That is a little much. Out of morbid curiousity, I checked the Louisiana age of consent. Age of consent in Louisiana is 17. The death penalty is still on the table for those who have had sex with someone under age 12. One year earlier and the Mailman would have been in some SERIOUS hot water
Posted at 3:23PM on Apr 30th 2008 by Justin
2. Who knew the Mailman and the Rocket had so much in common?
Posted at 3:23PM on Apr 30th 2008 by mc
3. Wow is the first thing that comes to mind. What an excellent article by Wilson. Very heart-felt and provocative.
Posted at 3:28PM on Apr 30th 2008 by Ryne Nelson
4. He was wrong if the story is true.
who does he did to explain it to? At this point it is a personal story.
Posted at 3:33PM on Apr 30th 2008 by LB
5. I guess that comment he made about huntin' for little mexican girls was pretty damn close to being true.
Posted at 3:45PM on Apr 30th 2008 by ali deCastro
6. Yea, this really shines the light on the reality of man in our society. Dateline really did damage to this whole discussion with their fiasco of a show; The Rocket, and now Karl Malone, are examples of men who when in the right situation (or the wrong situation depending on your view) can and will commit these kinds of acts. Fact is there are Two Kinds of 'crimes' here - consensual, nevermind your definition of whether or not a minor Can give consent; and Non-consensual.
This kind of crime, seems to be the same to me, as it is for the people who are on dateline. But something tells me Chris Hansen isn't gonna show up at Karl Malone, or Roger Clemons' house anytime soon - They've got enough money to Sue them for defamation of Charachter; One thing is different here however - These two men actually HAD SEX with minors - they didn't 'talk about sex' - or 'think' about committing the act - they did it.
However, if we are gonna discuss them, then we've gotta discuss the History of Men in this country having "consensual" sexual relations with minors. Not rape, not molestation, and not abuse - but where she wanted it, and so did he.
It happens ... It's happened, and most likely it will continue happening.
What is needed however with crimes like these are Levels, or Degrees, like they have with murder. You have 1st degree murder, 2nd, 3rd, ect ... all varying due to the severity of the crime - we dont do that with Sex Crimes; It's all bunched into one pile, and all the men are labled as equally bad; That's not fair, that's not right.
Good luck to Karl, even to Clemons, here's to the hope that people will finally wake up to the nature of man, and accept it for what it is.
Posted at 4:57PM on Apr 30th 2008 by miles
7. Reading your post made me vomit Miles.
Posted at 8:40PM on Apr 30th 2008 by Buvi Duvi
8. lol. "the nature of man"
This guy just killed the populations of five states!
No! Let him live! It is time we just accept the murderous nature of man!
I know you ruled out murder in your theory, but hey.
Anyway, I can accept certain situations where it is consensual from 15 on, given age difference and past history, but a 13 y/o and a, what, 17/18/19 y/o?? And he impregnated her? That's pretty damn bad. The Mailman should have stuck with delivering wins to his team and not sperm to underage girls' eggs.
Posted at 11:15PM on Apr 30th 2008 by sam
9. A 12 or a 13 year old cannot consent to sex. That is predatory behavior.
Posted at 11:39PM on Apr 30th 2008 by Sports Fan
10. that is messed up. first clemens, now this? hall of famers are the hot new sex scandal, move over hot female high school teachers.
Posted at 2:15AM on May 1st 2008 by johnny utah
11. Karl Malone is a slut. I saw him and a couple other Jazz players coming out of my coworker's hotel room a long time ago when I traveled for work and she has a mixed daughter. Go figure.
Posted at 2:52AM on May 1st 2008 by ap
12. AP ... sounds like your co-worker was the slut lol!!1
Posted at 5:48AM on May 1st 2008 by ndn
13. Not sure about Louisiana, but many states now have no statute of limitations or very long time limits on prosecution or civil liability for sexual abuse of a minor. Karl Malone could still be at risk and can thank the Catholic Church for this extension.
Posted at 10:50AM on May 1st 2008 by Maggie Lizer
14. She could've been a very mature 12 years old.
Posted at 1:32PM on May 1st 2008 by Jienhuo
15. I thought someone had to be at least 18 years of age to accept a mailman's package
Posted at 3:08PM on May 1st 2008 by Rob A