A Fresno, California man accused of sexual harassment is suing the woman who made the allegations against him. Travis Mellon, who has roughly 40,000 Twitch followers, filed a civil lawsuit against Danica Rockwood, 28, of Alachua County, Florida on July 16 in Fresno County Superior Court.
The 35-year-old gamer, who goes by HJTenchi online, was accused of sexual abuse, harassment, and sending obscene pics to Rockwood, a cosplayer. He is now suing her for defamation after she called him out on social media for allegedly sexually harassing her and others.
Mellon, who is seeking punitive damages, vehemently denies the allegations, claiming Rockwood’s accusations have hurt his reputation and earning potential on Twitch.
Mark Coleman, Mellon’s attorney, says his client and Rockwood had an intimate relationship between 2016 and 2018. In his lawsuit, Mellon claims the two traveled to gaming conventions together, shared explicit messages, and spoke daily, often via video chat.
“In the context of their relationship, the text messages were appropriate and reciprocated,” Coleman said in an interview.
On June 20, Rockwood tweeted that Mellon abused their friendship by asking for “lewd pictures” and “sexting texts.” She also shared screenshots of messages she received from the gamer and referred to him as a “sexual abuser” during a live stream. On social media, other users have supported Rockwood’s allegations, claiming they too had been harassed by Mellon.
After Rockwood made her allegations public, they were reference in a Wired story about sexual harassment in the gaming industry. In the lawsuit, Coleman states that Rockwood “urged women to turn on Mr. Mellon in an attempt to ruin his livelihood.” He also claims that her supporters have harassed Mellon while he was streaming on Twitch.
A case management hearing is scheduled for November 19, 2020 in Fresno County Superior Court.
Source: Fresno Bee
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