Rays Doctor Fired After Sexual Abuse Allegation Avoids Criminal Charges
Emma Baccellieri
Photo: David Zalubowski (AP)
Police will not seek charges against former Tampa Bay Rays physician Dr. Michael Reilly, who was fired in January after a former employee at his private practice came forward with allegations of sexual abuse.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, St. Petersburg Police could not establish probable cause for charges of sexual battery or simple battery against Reilly. The doctor had been with the Rays since the franchise's opening year in 1998, and he additionally worked with the Tampa Bay Lightning from 1992 to 2002. He has denied the allegations.
Brianna Holzerland, who said that she was hired by Reilly's private practice when she was 16, accused him of grooming her for abuse and repeatedly inappropriately touching her at work. Holzerland, now 26, shared her story in a video that she shared to YouTube in mid-January. Police began investigating Reilly, and the Rays fired him two weeks later.
"Only having the victim's statements, no independent witnesses to the offenses, and the medical records not matching the original victims statements, I was unable to develop probable cause to go forward with charges of simple battery and/or sexual battery," reads the investigative report, which was obtained by the Times.
Holzerland's video can be found below:
[Tampa Bay Times]