Picture: Robin Rayne Nelson/ZUMA/australscope

THE Cheetah in Atlanta bills itself as the “most renowned gentleman’s club” in America’s south-east, where businessmen, young professionals and tourists alike have enjoyed more than four decades of bare bottoms and risqué routines.

But the strip joint is also where, according to six former Cheetah employees, exotic dancers have been “drugged, assaulted, and in one case, raped” by patrons — fuelled by the belief that club-goers could receive sexual favours in the VIP room for the right price, according to an explosive report by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The dancers — all of whom worked at the club as “CheetahGirls” within the past five years — told the newspaper of a system involving “floormen” who acted as conduits between dancers willing to violate sexual contact rules for special bookings in the club’s VIP area. In short, customers paid the dancers directly before they kicked a percentage of that fee to the floormen, the newspaper reports.

The women allege they were pressured to violate club rules in the scheme, which netted those involved thousands of dollars. And dancers who didn’t play along found themselves on the outside of the VIP rooms looking in, they told the paper.

One of the women, Alison Valente, claims she was improperly fired from the club last year after complaining about the practice. According to one of two civil rights suits filed against the club in federal court, Valente claims she refused to join the group of dancers known as the “F Girls” because they engaged in sex acts in VIP rooms. After declining to pay kickbacks to floormen, Valente claims she was abused and “drugged into near unconsciousness” for not going along with the scheme.

A performance artist entertains the clientele of the 'Cheetah' club in Atlanta. Picture: Robin Rayne Nelson/ZUMA/australscopeSource:australscope

The lawsuits, filed by Valente and another former Cheetah dancer, allege club management and bouncers together operated a “sophisticated organised crime syndicate” that ultimately became an “integral part” of the club’s operations.

One former dancer who has since left the industry told the newspaper she was raped by a customer in the VIP room while working at the club during the NCAA basketball tournament in March 2013.

She claims the customer unexpectedly pulled down his pants and penetrated her as she danced with her back to him. After fighting the man off, the unidentified dancer told the newspaper she then found a “house mum” at the club – a female supervisor who coordinates schedules and other tasks – and reported the attack.

Instead of reporting the alleged rape to police, the female supervisor encouraged the woman “to move on,” ordering a tray of tequila shots before the dancer was escorted to the penthouse.

“The idea of calling the cops is something I suggested and they just started talking about something else,” the woman told the paper. “She just encouraged me to move on and not make a big deal out of it.”

Kevin Ward, an attorney representing the club, confirmed an “apparently unwanted sexual incident during March Madness 2013,” saying in a statement to the paper and Channel 2 Action News that the woman and the customer had a “personal and intimate” relationship.

The woman did contact the house mum but “did not want to contact police”, Ward told the Journal-Constitution.

But the woman claims she had no prior relationship with the alleged assailant before or after the incident and doesn’t even know his name.

Picture: Robin Rayne Nelson/ZUMA/australscopeSource:australscope

Another dancer no longer with the club said sexual assault occurred frequently inside the VIP rooms. She claims a customer stuck his finger inside her vagina during one encounter and then reported her to one of the floormen, who in turn told her to refund the man’s money.

“I could have called the cops and gotten him in big trouble,” she told the paper, adding she ultimately didn’t contact authorities because management pressured employees not to involve police.

Attorneys for the club’s owner, Bill Hagood, have dismissed the claims, describing them in a statement as “vindictive, discharged strippers,” some of whom may have been terminated for the same misconduct they now claim was tolerated by management.

The club denied Valente’s claims in a countersuit filed in her lawsuit, the newspaper reports, and is also counter-suing the woman for slander and defamation. The club’s counterclaim alleges that Valente’s statement “wrongfully depicted” the club and was made to harm its reputation as a “sophisticated, upscale” option for adult entertainment.

Attorney Steve Sadow told the newspaper that club management had “never” previously received any claims of illegal conduct, characterizing the women’s claims as an attempt to extort money.

“The Cheetah has been open for nearly 40 years,” Sadow told the paper. “It has served customers in Atlanta and visitors to Atlanta during the entire time and there has never been a claim of any illegal conduct against the club. The club will not stand idly by and allow its excellent reputation to be besmirched.”

Valente’s attorney, meanwhile, characterised Sadow’s statement as victim shaming.

“As we have seen again and again lately, it takes multiple victims coming into the light before any allegations of abuse are actually taken seriously,” attorney Jim McDonough told the paper.

Since being contacted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Channel 2 Action News, the club has made its VIP rooms less private and barred dancers from tipping floormen.

This story originally appeared in the New York Post and was republished with permisson.