And then her life went on. Virtually absent any public hue and cry. It has been that way ever since she was arrested back in June. No doubt that’s in part because TMZ has yet to reveal a Hope Solo “Goalkeeper Goes Ballistic’’ tape as it did when Ray Rice was shown flattening his then-fianceé and pulling her unconscious body out of an Atlantic City elevator the way a butcher might drag a slab of beef across a freezer floor. And, to be fair, it’s possible Solo never did go ballistic and the charges against her are exaggerated or an outright sham.

Hope Solo, her two Olympic gold medals (2008, ’12) earned with the United States women’s soccer team, learned last week that her trial on domestic abuse charges has been set for Jan. 20.


For the record, her attorney, Todd Maybrown, claims Solo was the victim in the alleged dustup.

Yet it remains disturbing, and more than hints at a double standard, that Solo’s alleged acts have flown so beneath the radar of public opinion, and have been all but ignored by those who put her in uniform, including US Soccer. In a time when domestic abuse is so much in our collective sports consciousness, so reviled and condemned, Solo’s alleged actions have barely caused a stir. Why? Because this is a woman as the alleged perpetrator? Because this is a female soccer player and not a male football player?

Abuse is abuse, be it dished out by a man or a woman, be the victim male, female, adult, or adolescent. No matter what the sport. Solo is a professional athlete, a decorated US national team member idolized by young fans, especially American girls with Olympic dreams. We certainly know from recent cases that a man similarly charged with domestic abuse would not be allowed to meander so, shall we say, leisurely and inconspicuously through the due process of our legal system or the court of public opinion.


But thus far Solo has been allowed to keep on keeping on, handling it all the way a good goalkeeper mindlessly fields a slow-rolling ball.

“A highly unfortunate incident,’’ is how Solo characterized all of it on her Facebook account.

With no hard evidence such as video or pictures out there, the public remains seemingly largely disinterested in reports that Solo, 33, is charged with knocking around her half-sister and 17-year-old nephew, the latter of whom allegedly cracked a broom handle over Solo’s head when she wouldn’t stop grappling with her half-sister. The same nephew also is alleged to have pointed an unloaded BB gun at Solo as a means to get her to stop striking his mother and to leave their house.

“We just let her back into our lives,’’ the nephew told Kirkland, Wash., police in the immediate aftermath of the June 21 brouhaha. “She always does this.’’ By “she,’’ the teenager identified Solo.

According to police reports, the nephew was found at the scene with a ruddy face, a ripped T-shirt, and a bloody cut near the bottom of his left ear. His mother was reported to have bruising on her face.

Between the accounts the boy and his mother gave police, Solo is alleged to have arrived at their house angry and apparently inebriated, and at one point told her nephew he was “fat’’ and “crazy,’’ a reference to his career aspirations to be either an athlete or actor (media reports conflict on his chosen field). A subsequent vulgar verbal exchange between Solo and her nephew led the pair to fisticuffs, Solo allegedly pulling the teenager’s hair and punching him repeatedly. The boy’s mother then interceded, leading the half-sisters to brawl, and ultimately leading the nephew to strike Solo over the head with the broom handle and reach for the BB gun.


If Solo is found guilty of the charges — two counts of fourth-degree domestic violence assault — she could face up to six months in jail.

Solo in November 2012 married ex-Seattle Seahawks tight end Jerramy Stevens, only hours after he was hauled into court for allegedly assaulting her. The case against Stevens was promptly dropped, the judge citing lack of evidence, and the couple exchanged vows the day following his court appearance in Kirkland, Wash.

Stevens, who finished his NFL career with Tampa Bay in 2010, was arrested for sexual assault in July 2000 while a student at the University of Washington. Rape charges were never filed. In 2003, the female accuser in the 2000 case filed a civil suit against Stevens, the school, and Stevens’s fraternity, leading to an out-of-court settlement in which Stevens paid the accuser $300,000.

Contrary to the likes of NFL players Rice and Adrian Peterson, the Minnesota running back who infamously disciplined his son by lashing, or switching, him with a tree branch, Solo to date has experienced little consequence for her alleged actions. She was not required to post bail at the time of her arrest, and the Seattle Reign, her team in the National Women’s Soccer League, kept her on the field through the remainder of the season. US Soccer similarly didn’t keep her from playing in the qualifying rounds of the 2015 Women’s World Cup.


The Baltimore Ravens fired Rice in the hours immediately after TMZ made its tape public. Pending his appeal, Rice remains banished by the NFL, which prior to the TMZ tape suspended him for only two games. Peterson remains out of the Vikings’ lineup while on the commissioner’s “exempt list,’’ despite reaching a plea agreement last week — no contest to a charge of misdemeanor reckless assault. For thrashing his 4-year-old, he was ordered to pay a $4,000 fine, serve 80 hours of community service, attend parenting classes, and was placed on probation for two years.

“I want to say I truly regret this incident,’’ Peterson said in wake of the plea deal. “I love my son more than any one of you can imagine.’’

The NFL, meanwhile, has not granted Peterson permission to return to the Vikings.

Solo deserves nothing less than due process of the law. She also deserves to be subject to the evolving, exacting standard of what male athletes now face in the hypersensitive sports world. One must wonder, would a star male soccer player, similarly accused, be allowed to remain or play with his professional and/or national team before due process played out?


We all know that answer. We all know that Hope Solo, to this point in time, has enjoyed the luxury of not being asked to shut up, turn in her jersey, and let the legal system shape the course of her career. What’s good for one gender must be good, and equal, for the other. We should all know by now that’s how the game is played.

Kevin Paul Dupont’s ‘‘On Second Thought’’ appears on Page 2 of the Sunday Globe Sports section. He can be reached at dupont@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeKPD.