TACOMA, Wash. – On behalf of a teenage female wrestler, Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Washington state officials. A male wrestler sexually assaulted the female wrestler in December 2025 during a high school girls’ wrestling tournament, an event sponsored by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association.
The female athlete, Kallie Keeler, and her mother, Stephanie Brown, are suing state officials after those officials directed Keeler to take the mat without telling anyone that she was about to wrestle a male and after the officials waited 53 days to report the sexual assault to law enforcement, in violation of a mandatory 48-hour reporting law.
“A 15-year-old girl was sexually assaulted because of political cowardice. Washington state officials insist on pushing gender ideology at all costs—even at the expense of girls’ safety and privacy,” said ADF Senior Counsel Kate Anderson, director of the ADF Center for Parental Rights. “Our client’s story is proof of the grave harms caused by lying about biology. This must end—otherwise, girls will continue getting hurt and violated. We are urging the court to require state officials to change their policy to ensure that girls’ privacy and safety are protected when they compete in the sports they love. No girl should have to unknowingly wrestle a boy. And at a minimum, parents must be notified before their daughters are matched against male opponents.”
“Tragically, because of district policy, a 15-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by a male opponent on the wrestling mat,” Anderson continued. “Kallie’s mom was in the gym with her daughter, but she could not protect her because the district’s written policy prohibits notifying parents or anyone else when their daughters will be matched against male athletes. She and her mother promptly reported the assault to school officials, who sat on the information for nearly two months. Washington state failed this family, but it isn’t too late to protect other girls. State officials must change their policies and prioritize girls’ safety in sports.”
Keeler, who was 15 at the time of the incident, was matched against a male athlete without her or her mother’s knowledge. During the match, the male athlete sexually assaulted her. She appeared visibly distressed while competing and tried to communicate what was happening to her mother, who was recording the match. As ADF attorneys explain, the assault was not a wrestling move—it was a flagrant foul and criminal conduct—sexual assault in its truest form. She left the mat crying, but her coaches did nothing.
The girl, who has been wrestling since the age of four, had never been sexually assaulted during a match. After the match was finished, another team’s coach informed her that her opponent was male. Brown quickly reported the assault in writing, with video evidence, to coaches and school staff. But again, the district did nothing, failing to notify law enforcement of the assault until nearly two months later and only after the story broke publicly in the media. The district then told Brown and her daughter that the policy would remain the same. If she returns to wrestling, she can be matched against a male athlete again without notice and over her objection. So she and her mother are asking the court to protect their rights and the rights of all girls in Washington not to be unknowingly forced to compete against a male athlete.
ADF attorneys filed the case, K.M.K. v. Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.
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