‘Under investigation’: Girl wrestler says school ignored her claim of sex assault by male opponent
(The Center Square) – The office of Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank and the Puyallup School District confirmed Tuesday they are conducting an investigation into an alleged sexual assault against a female Puyallup high-school wrestler.
The Rogers High School sophomore reported the alleged assault to school officials and her coach two days after the December incident, but the family contends administration failed to take meaningful action to protect and investigate her claim of sexual assault.
The alleged victim, 16-year-old Kallie Keeler, says the incident happened during a Dec 6, 2025, match in which she was wrestling against a 190-pound transgender wrestler. She did not know he was a biological male at the time.
Video of the match taken by Keeler’s mom and featured in Brandi Kruse’s unDivided podcast, shows the teen’s face grimacing as the opponent’s hand is seen between her legs.
The alleged victim claims the opponent pressed up inside her with his fingers for several seconds, so she then gave up the match moments later.
According to Kruse, school officials did not report the incident to the Pierce County Sheriff’s office until Jan 30, 2026, nearly two months after it happened.
“This series of events suggests that a number of Rogers High School staff and employees knew about Kallie’s allegation of sexual assault and didn’t do anything with it,” Kruse wrote. “Under Washington State law, mandatory reporters are required to report allegations of sexual assault within 48 hours.”
Puyallup School spokeswoman Sarah Gillispie declined comment on the specifics in response to an inquiry from The Center Square.
“This matter is under investigation,” she wrote in the statement. “As such, we cannot share details or discuss specifics. What we can say is that student safety is a top priority and that all reports involving student safety are taken seriously.”
Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank confirmed the investigation in a brief voicemail to the TCS Tuesday morning.
“We did take a report and it is in the hands of the prosecuting attorney’s office now for them to review for possible charges to be filed,” Swank said.
The Keeler family was unable to provide further comment for TCS on advice from their attorney.
Brian Heywood, founder of Let’s Go Washington, backing an initiative to protect girls sports and private spaces for females, issued a statement in response to the incident.
“We’re grateful to the unDivided podcast for holding the Puyallup School District accountable and forcing the case to be moved to the Pierce County Sheriff’s office for investigation,” the statement said. “How many young women have to be assaulted, violated, bullied, mocked, or even sued before the state takes action to protect them?”
Meantime, following a TCS exclusive interview with Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal last week about the initiative, OSPI has tentatively agreed to meet with two 16-year-old girls who became the face of the fight to protect girls sports in Washington.
The families of Ahnaleigh Wilson and Frances Staudt had previously requested to meet with Reykdal but received no response. Now, the Superintendent has indicated he will hear their stories.
This story originally appeared in The Center Square.