RENO, Nev. — Law enforcement officials in Nevada have no intention of opening a criminal investigation into allegations Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger raped a woman at a Lake Tahoe hotel-casino a year ago, the sheriff's department said today.

Douglas County Sheriff's Deputy Teresa Duffy said the accuser would have to file a criminal complaint to trigger an investigation into the incident the woman says occurred during a celebrity golf tournament last July while she was working as an executive casino host at Harrah's Lake Tahoe.

"The victim is the only one who can do that," Duffy said. "Unless there was a third party that actually witnessed the incident, which according to the civil case, was not the case here."

The 31-year-old woman who was working as a VIP host at Harrah's Lake Tahoe at the time filed a lawsuit saying Roethlisberger raped her in a hotel penthouse.

The woman never went to the authorities with her story, and it's unclear why she decided to file the lawsuit seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars a year later.

"Ben has never sexually assaulted anyone. The timing of the lawsuit and the absence of a criminal complaint and a criminal investigation are the most compelling evidence of the absence of any criminal conduct," Roethlisberger lawyer David Cornwell said in a statement.