Pulitzer-Nominated “New York Times” Reporter Accuses Gym Trainer Connected to “Real Housewives” of Raping Her at 18

Sarah Maslin Nir alleges that Garth Wakeford raped her in 2001

A New York Times journalist filed a lawsuit last week alleging that a personal trainer once linked to a Real Housewives of New York star raped her in 2001 when she was 18 and he was working as a bouncer.

Sarah Maslin Nir, a reporter known for her 2016 investigation on exploitative conditions at nail salons that was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, filed suit in New York on Nov. 22. against Garth Wakeford, a South African personal trainer, who was romantically linked to Real Housewives star Luann de Lesseps in 2021.

In the complaint reviewed by PEOPLE, Nir says she was out with friends at a bar in Amagansett, N.Y., in the Hamptons, where Wakeford, then 31, allegedly worked. Nir alleges Wakeford knew that she and her friends were under 21, but let them into the bar and told the bartender to serve her drinks “on him.”

At the end of the night, the complaint alleges, Wakeford offered to drive an intoxicated Nir to her parents’ home, but instead took her to a beach trail as she lost consciousness. When Nir regained consciousness, she alleges, she noticed her underwear was around her ankles before realizing he was sexually assaulting her as she repeatedly told him “stop” and “no,” according to the complaint.

Related: How Horses Helped This New York Times Reporter Recover from Rape

A year later, Nir saw Wakeford at an event, and he “admitted what he had done, acknowledging that he knew that she ‘wasn’t there,’ and that it was the worst thing he had ever done to someone,” the complaint alleges.

The complaint also states that Nir went to authorities in 2019 after years of therapy but Wakeford was never indicted.

Wakeford did not immediately respond to a message from PEOPLE requesting comment on the allegations.

Nir was profiled by PEOPLE in 2020 around the publication of her book Horse Crazy, about her love of horses and how they have helped her cope with her trauma. For years, Nir previously said, she blamed herself for the alleged rape and she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in her 20s.

But before she got into therapy, Nir said it was horses, which she has ridden since she was a girl, that helped comfort her in the aftermath of the ordeal.

“I’ve always felt most free around them,” she told PEOPLE in 2020. “Without knowing it, they’d been saving me my whole life."

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Nir’s lawsuit was one of thousands filed before the New York Adult Survivors Act expired last week. The law allowed adult survivors to file lawsuits up to a year after the statute of limitations expired.

"We are proud to have filed this lawsuit on behalf of our brave client just before the deadline for New York’s Adult Survivors Act (or ‘ASA’) expired,” Nir’s attorney Roberta Kaplan says in an exclusive statement to PEOPLE. “The whole point of passing the ASA was to give victims a chance to seek justice for sexual assaults that occurred years ago, when societal attitudes were very different and far less enlightened than they are today. This case personifies that objective — we look forward to finally obtaining justice for Ms. Maslin Nir in court.”

Other high-profile defendants sued before the deadline include Sean “Diddy” Combs, former Bad Boy Records President Herve Pierre, singer Axl Rose and actor Sebastian Chacon.

A spokesperson for Wakeford tells PEOPLE, "These claims are meritless and without basis. In point of fact, Ms. Nir’s own brother and sister-in-law employed Mr. Wakeford as a trainer for eight years after the alleged assault. Mr. Wakeford looks forward to establishing the facts around their consensual relationship in the course of this unfounded litigation, which is predicated on lies."

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.

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Read the original article on People.