(LifeSiteNews) — A 16-year-old sophomore high school wrestler allegedly suffered a sexual assault on December 6 during a girls’ wrestling match at the Emerald Ridge High School in the 190-pound weight class. The student, Kallie Keeler, did not realize that she was actually wrestling a trans-identifying male until after the incident occurred.
The story was broken by podcaster Brandi Kruse, who posted a video of the match online with Keeler’s permission on February 9:
16-year-old Kallie Keeler didn’t even realize she was wrestling a boy. She didn’t find out until after she says he forcefully pushed his fingers into her vagina. The Puyallup (WA) School District is accused of burying her complaint – now there’s now a criminal investigation. pic.twitter.com/4LRo0ft0wI
— Brandi Kruse (@BrandiKruse) February 10, 2026
Keeler, a student at Rogers High School in Puyallup, Washington, was face-down on the mat just minutes into the match when the male athlete, according to Kruse, “reached between her legs and, very forcefully for several seconds, tried to push (his) fingers into her vagina.”
In the video, the incident is discernable — Keeler’s expression instantly changes to fear and distress, and she attempts to communicate to her mother what is happening. Her mother could not discern what she was mouthing from the mat, and Keeler allowed herself to be pinned in order to escape.
According to the sports outlet Outkick, “school officials failed to report the alleged assault to law enforcement for nearly two months after she came forward.” Keeler stated that she would have reported the assault even if her assailant had been female.
“That has never happened,” Keeler said of the incident. “Out of all the years I’ve wrestled. I was just kind of like, what? What the heck? I didn’t really know what to do or how to handle that situation. I just wanted the match to be over.” Keeler said she had no idea her opponent was male. “I didn’t really know what to think of it. It’s a women’s wrestling team, so I wasn’t really thinking that.”
Immediately after the match, Keeler told her mother what had happened and also told her coach about the incident. “I told her how uncomfortable the match made me feel,” Keeler stated. “She said she was looking into it.” She was told by another coach that her opponent had been male, making her view the incident as a deliberate sexual assault.
According to Outkick, her parents emailed the coaches at Rogers High School two days later, writing:
This is a huge issue and something that is 100% not OK. The fact that this was done by a biological male who identifies as a female is an even bigger issue for me. Where do we go from here?
Keeler’s coach responded on December 8, writing, “I most certainly would not put Kallie on the mat if I thought she was competing with a male. I will investigate this and look to see if we have a video on our end. I will touch base with you either this afternoon or tomorrow morning after I do my due diligence.”
Keeler’s parents told the press that they did not hear back from the coach after that, and only after Brandi Kruse reached out to the Puyallup School District on January 29 was the Pierce County Sherrif’s Office notified on January 30.
In Washington, public school employees have a legal obligation to report allegations of sexual assault within 48 hours. This clearly was not done. Deputy Carly Cappeltto of the Pierce County Sherriff’s Office has affirmed that they are investigating the incident. “The incident allegedly happened during the match between the victim and a transgender student the victim was wrestling at the time,” she said. “This is being investigated and is still active.”
Keeler decided to speak publicly about the assault when she discovered that other girls were also speaking out. Brandi Kruse has reported that a dozen other female athletes have complained about two trans-identifying males in the girls’ rocker room at Emerald Ridge High School to school administration; their complaints were ignored despite the fact that the girls said the boys were watching them undress.
One of the two trans-identifying males identified by the female athletes was the wrestler who allegedly assaulted Keeler. “That was when I realized that more girls than me were being hurt,” Keeler said. Outkick noted that “Washington is one of several states being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights over policies that allow transgender athletes to compete in girls’ sports.”
Critics have speculated that the school district delayed reporting the incident because of the politically charged atmosphere around trans-identifying males in female sports.
After LifeSiteNews reached out to the school, it responded by saying, “This matter is under investigation. 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.”
