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West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey has spoken out in response to sexual harassment allegations against a transgender athlete who sued his state to block its law that prevents biological males from participating in women’s sports.
McCuskey, who is leading his state’s legal defense against the trans athlete whose case the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to consider Tuesday, 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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West Virginia AG responds to harassment allegations against trans athlete
The allegations were made against the trans athlete by Bridgeport High School student Adaleia Cross, who is a former track 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 to The New York Times in an article published Monday.
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“I wasn’t raised like that,” the athlete said.
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.
OutKick Podcast Host and former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines also addressed the allegations during Monday’s press conference, recounting Adaleia’s testimony, saying the experience “traumatized” Cross.
“We have to worry about school-aged girls who have to worry about being told these things while they are undressing,” Gaines said. “The alleged things that were said to her, as a parent myself now, and I imagine my husband would have some choice words if someone said things like that to our daughter. Relay some things [Cross] told me, it traumatized her.”
(Left) Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador (center), West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey and women’s sports activist Riley Gaines (right) speak at a news conference Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, ahead of Supreme Court oral arguments on two cases on the issue of trans 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 Alabama AG’s general counsel and four other female athlete advocates; Olympic silver medalist gymnast MyKayla Skinner, former American gymnast and founder of XX-XY Athletics Jennifer Sey, former NCAA volleyball player Macy Petty and former California college soccer player Sophia Lorey.
The group made remarks in support of the legal defense of “Save Women’s Sports” a day before the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases on the issue of trans athletes in women’s sports, including the McCuskey case in West Virginia and a separate case in Idaho.
Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador is grappling with a lawsuit brought by a trans athlete who sued to block the state’s women’s sports law since 2020, calling out the trans athlete for trying to drop the case after the Supreme Court agreed to review it.
“This athlete never decided to dismiss the case until the petition for escrow was granted by the Supreme Court of the United States. So when they knew they were in the Ninth Circuit and they were going to win, they were willing to have this case heard. When they knew they were going to go to the Supreme Court, they decided to try to dismiss this case. I think it’s fundamentally unfair. I think it’s a game and I hope the court, the Supreme Court of the United States, sees it that way.”
Skinner reflected on her career as a women’s gymnast and becoming a mother for her passion to join the battle to “save women’s sports.”
“Staying silent on important issues doesn’t serve 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 at the Supreme Court and in states like Utah right now is so much more important,” Skinner said.
“Women’s sports exist because men and women are biologically different. In gymnastics, women don’t compete on the rings. Why? Because men are stronger. And the events are designed around physiological reality. It’s not controversial. It’s common sense.”
Petty shared his experience of having to play as a transgender athlete during his college career, recounting the hard work and sacrifices, including missing prom, that went into getting a chance to play college volleyball.
“But instead of showing off these skills that I had trained for my whole life, they saw a boy throw the ball in our faces. Now there were plenty of opportunities for this boy to play on the boys’ fields on the other side of the convention center where, mind you, the nets are more than 7 inches higher than ours. But instead, it was humiliating. It was degrading to me as a woman. And of course, it compromised my opportunity to put on that jersey in the first place.”
Lorey ripped California leaders, including Attorney General Rob Bonta and Gov. Gavin Newsom, for continuing to allow the state to be a hotbed of controversial incidents involving biological males participating in women’s sports.
“Our own Attorney General, Rob Bonta, will not lift a finger to protect the girls,” Lorey said. “When I testified at the California state capitol in defense of the girls, one assemblyman compared what we were saying to the time of Nazi Germany.”
Sey, like Skinner, also recounted her experience as a professional gymnast on her way to becoming a United States champion and said she never would have accomplished that if she had to compete against men.
“Why will little girls even bother to compete at some point when they know it doesn’t matter to our institutions that it’s not fair to them? I tell you, that’s where it leads. They stop trying. They stop competing all together. Why would they bother if they have no chance of making the team, of making the podium, of winning? Ultimately, they won’t. They will stop trying,” Sey warned.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita was the only figure present Monday to call for empathy for trans athletes, becoming visibly emotional as he recounted an incident in 2022 when his state was sued by the ACLU and a 10-year-old transgender plaintiff for enacting a law allowing only biological females to play women’s sports.
Rokita claimed the 10-year-old had been “co-opted by the left”.
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“This plaintiff in Indiana was 10 years old and I say my opinion has been co-opted by the left. This 10 year old needs love and so does everyone else.
“So to my colleagues, good luck tomorrow. May justice prevail.”
