Pete Rose Drops Defamation Suit Against John Dowd over Statutory Rape Claims

Pete Rose reportedly dropped his defamation lawsuit against attorney John Dowd on Friday.

According to the Associated Press, the suit was dismissed after the two parties mutually agreed not to proceed in court. 

"Pete Rose and John Dowd have agreed, based on mutual consideration, to the dismissal with prejudice of Mr. Rose's lawsuit against Mr. Dowd. I am not permitted to comment further regarding the resolution of the matter," attorneys for both Rose and Dowd said in a statement, per ESPN.com's William Weinbaum. 

Rose's initial complaint stemmed from comments Dowd made in 2015 on Pennsylvania radio station WCHE-AM. According to Weinbaum, Dowd alleged an old associate of Rose's, Michael Bertolini, disclosed Rose "ran young girls for him down in spring training, ages 12 to 14."

"Isn't that lovely? So that's statutory rape every time you do that," Dowd added. 

In July, Weinbaum reported a motion filed in Dowd's defense against Rose in the defamation case alleged "that Rose had a sexual relationship with the woman for several years in the 1970s, beginning before she turned 16."

According to the AP, Dowd led MLB's investigation that resulted in Rose being banned from baseball for life after it was discovered that the sport's all-time hits leader bet on games while he was the manager of the Cincinnati Reds.