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American Civil Liberties Union attorney Joshua Block waived questions regarding a recent statement from West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey regarding harassment allegations against Block’s client, a transgender West Virginia athlete.
McCuskey, who is leading his state’s legal defense against the trans athlete after the athlete sued to block the state’s law to exclude biological males from women’s sports, addressed the allegations at a news conference Monday.
“Any time you think a child is being harassed, it gives you pause as a parent. And it’s not really our case, but harassment of a child of any kind in this country is inappropriate. And it’s wrong, and we all need to stand up to ensure that children are not harassed in any of their venues, especially in sports,” McCuskey said.
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PK Press Club Digital attempted to question Block about McCuskey’s statement after oral arguments in the case before the Supreme Court on Tuesday, but Block abandoned the first wave of questioning to take a photo with his team and his client.
After the photo shoot, PK Press Club Digital pursued Block again to ask about McCuskey’s statement, but Block again walked away from questions with aides crowding him.
The allegations were made against the trans athlete by Bridgeport High School student Adaleia Cross, who was a track and field teammate of the trans athlete when both were at Bridgeport Middle School.
Cross’ mother, Abby, told PK Press Club Digital what the trans athlete allegedly said to her daughter when they shared the girls’ locker room during the 2022-23 school year. Adaleia was in eighth grade and the trans athlete was in seventh. Abby Cross alleges the trans athlete made extremely graphic and vulgar sexual threats toward her daughter and other girls on the team.
The trans athlete’s legal representatives at the American Civil Liberties Union have denied the allegations.
“Our client and his mother deny these allegations and the school district has investigated the allegations reported to the school by AC and found them to be unsubstantiated. We remain committed to defending the rights of all students under Title IX, including the right to a safe and inclusive learning environment free from harassment and discrimination,” read a statement from the ACLU provided to PK Press Club Digital.
Cross family attorneys from the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) responded to the ACLU statement.
“Our client has been sworn under oath and under penalty of perjury in numerous cases regarding the events that took place between her and the male athlete. Due to the situation, [Cross] had to completely walk away from the sport she loved and sacrifice a key part of her school experience to protect herself,” read a statement from the ADF provided to PK Press Club Digital.
The trans athlete personally denied the allegations The New York Times in an article published Monday.
“I wasn’t raised like that,” the athlete said.
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The outlet obtained a letter from the Harrison County School District, saying an investigation determined Cross’ allegations “could not be substantiated.”
The Cross family said that to their knowledge, when they reported the alleged harassment to the school, nothing was done to reprimand the trans athlete.
“They told me they would thoroughly investigate what I told them,” Adaleia said. “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 tell us about it at all, they just left it there and didn’t tell us anything else, so it just felt like yeah, it’s done.”
His father, Holden Cross, said: “We received no response from the school after the report was filed. »
PK Press Club Digital has made repeated requests to the ACLU and the Harrison County School District, which oversees Bridgeport Middle School and Bridgeport High School, for documents related to the school’s investigation and for clarification on whether an investigation took place and, if so, why only the Cross family was not informed of the results. These demands were not met.
Meanwhile, former Lincoln Middle School girls’ track and field runner Emmy Salerno alleges the trans athlete used “intimidation tactics” against her after Salerno refused to compete against the trans athlete in a spring 2024 event.
The Salerno protest took place on April 18, 2024, when she and the trans athlete were in eighth grade. Salerno, along with four other girls, refused to compete in the girls’ shot put competition that day at a local meet. Salerno claims his team was disqualified from the next competition, and then began facing intimidating stares from the trans athlete at public events.
“After we left, there was an immediate personality change. He wouldn’t talk to me. He just wanted to look at me and look at me,” Salerno told PK Press Club Digital.
Salerno also provided PK Press Club Digital with a screenshot of a Snapchat post, which appeared to have been sent by the trans athlete, showing a photo of Salerno with a caption that read: “Reminder she has more testosterone than me.”
Salerno said there was an incident in which the trans athlete followed her while they attended a local basketball game, giving her intimidating looks, and Salerno feared the trans athlete would try to “fight” her.
“At the basketball game, when he was following me around, I was like, ‘Is he going to try to fight me?'” Salerno said. “‘Is he going to try to sneak up behind me and hit me?'”
Salerno and his father say they believe the stares, following patterns and social media posts were “intimidation tactics,” and that there was “ongoing discomfort” stemming from the situation.
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Protesters gather outside the Supreme Court as it hears arguments on state laws banning transgender girls and women from playing on school sports teams, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/José Luis Magana) (José Luis Magana/AP)
“I always tried to avoid him wherever I went,” Salerno added.
The ACLU did not respond to PK Press Club Digital’s request to respond to Salerno’s allegations.
Salerno said she avoided competing against the trans athlete the following season, but rather than protest publicly, she simply told her coach not to include her in the lineup for meets against the trans athlete to avoid a penalty to the team.
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Salerno says she also heard from other girls in the community about the sexual harassment allegations Cross made against the trans athlete. Salerno said she herself was never in a locker room or bathroom with the trans athlete.
“During the athletics season, it’s talked about more,” Salerno said of the sexual harassment allegations. “I heard from my school that people were talking about it.”
