Katz' name withdrawn from U.S. civil suit, claimants apologize for sex allegations

A prominent American ballerina and her husband have withdrawn a claim that Edmonton Oilers owner Daryl Katz paid for sex with an underage dancer several years ago, saying they have since learned she was 18 at the time.

Marc Randazza, lawyer for Dusty and Mitchell Button, filed the motion to strike Katz' name from their civil suit in Nevada on Aug. 3.

A copy of the motion was provided to CTV News Edmonton on Tuesday by Katz' lawyer through the Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG).

Katz was wrenched into the ongoing legal battle between the Buttons and an up-and-coming dancer, Sage Humphries, in late July when they filed a counterclaim against Humphries, who had accused them of committing sexual offences against her and other young dancers under their wing.

In the July counterclaim, the Buttons argued they were the victims of a coordinated attack meant to ruin their reputation and alleged Humphries had been trafficked by her own parents to billionaire Katz. They also alleged Katz was only one of several older men who had a sexual relationship eight years ago with Humphries, who they said was 17 years old at the time.

About one week after initially publishing a story, CTV News Edmonton was provided a copy of Humphries' drivers licence, which stated her birth date as Oct. 3, 1997.

In the Aug. 3 request to remove Katz' name from the counterclaim, Randazza claims his team "conducted extensive (not just diligent) research" to verify Humphries age, but that she "appears to have lied to the Buttons, and other parties, about her age."

One of the inaccurate sources he referenced was a LexisNexis report which stated she had been born in October 1998.

"I want to personally apologize for any harm the erroneous factual claims may have caused to Mr. Katz and his family," Randazza wrote in a statement shared by shared by OEG communications director Kevin Rapanos.

"We brought the claims in good faith, but the moment I doubted the ability to maintain them, I took corrective action and asked the court to strike all relevant references from the record."

Rapanos noted "it has been an incredibly difficult and damaging time for Mr. Katz and his family."