The lawsuit, filed in Baltimore County, alleges that ring crew chief Melvin Phillips Jr. would recruit underage boys, sometimes as young as 12, to help host WWE events where they were “groomed, exploited and sexually abused.” With allegations dating back to the 1980s. Philips died in 2012 and cannot be listed as a defendant.

WWE co-founder Vince McMahon and his wife, as well as WWE and its parent company TKO Holdings, are also named as defendants and are accused of allowing “blatant, pervasive abuse” of children Philips would procure from broken families.

“WWE and the McMahons had a responsibility to these minors, and they failed them in the worst possible way,” Mark DiCello, a representative for the plaintiffs, said in a statement. “We will fight mightily to reveal the truth about this systemic, insidious and life-altering abuse.”

The lawsuit alleges that following the accusations against Phillips, Vince McMahon fired him in 1988, but rehired him six weeks later on the condition that he “stay away from the kids.”

“He didn’t, and they knew it,” the lawsuit concludes.

Phillips allegedly “enticed and manipulated young boys with the promise of meeting famous wrestlers and attending extremely popular wrestling shows, experiences that were otherwise inaccessible to these boys.”

The abuse would take place at wrestling events, hotels, and other venues, including a locker room where Phillips abused the victims while filming the attack with a video camera.

The scandal broke first Miami HeraldIn 1992, Alex Marvez led the FBI’s investigation into allegations of sexual abuse of minors. The lawsuit states that although the FBI identified at least 10 victims, no criminal charges were filed.

Two of the plaintiffs are from Pennsylvania, two are from Massachusetts, and one is from Florida. They are referred to in the lawsuit as John Does.

Only recently did John Does learn the extent of Vince McMahon’s alleged involvement in the crimes. case From former WWE employee Janel Grant, who accused Vince McMahon and former WWE head of talent relations John Laurinaitis of sexually assaulting her, sex trafficking her, and forcing her into a sexual relationship with a wrestler WWE was trying to sign.

Ann Callis, one of Grant’s attorneys, called Wednesday’s allegations “deeply troubling.”

“Vince McMahon has made sexual exploitation and human trafficking a hallmark of WWE culture for decades,” Callis said in a statement. “Survivors like Janel Grant and other former WWE employees deserve their day in court.”

Vince McMahon resigned He stepped down as chairman of TKO Group and gave up his position on the board in January amid allegations that he paid millions of dollars to hide his sexual misconduct with four women, including Grant and her case.

McMahon disputed Grant’s claims, saying, “I stand by my previous statement that Ms. Grant’s case is full of lies, obscene fabrications of events that never occurred, and is a vindictive distortion of the truth.”

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Greg Gutzler, the leader of Wednesday’s lawsuit, said it was “completely unconscionable” that so many people allegedly knew about it but did nothing to stop the abuse.

“Thanks to the courage of our customers, we finally have a chance to hold accountable those who permitted and enabled the blatant and widespread sexual abuse of these young boys,” he said.