BALTIMORE (AP) – A new lawsuit accuses WWE and its founders of fostering a culture of sexual abuse within the organization and looking the other way while a longtime ringside announcer preyed on young men he hired as “ring boys.”

The suit was filed Wednesday in Maryland, where a recent law change eliminated the state’s statute of limitations on child abuse claims, opening the door for victims to sue regardless of their age or the length of time that has passed.

The complaint alleges that Melvin Phillips, who died in 2012, would target young men from disadvantaged backgrounds and hire them as “ring boys” to help prepare for wrestling matches. Phillips would then attack them in his locker room, hotel and even in the wrestlers’ locker room, according to the complaint, which was filed on behalf of five men.

The abuses detailed in the lawsuit occurred over several years during Phillips’ long tenure with the organization, which spanned from the 1970s to the early 1990s. Because of his death, Phillips is not among the named defendants.

Instead, the complaint is aimed at World Wrestling Entertainment founders Vince and Linda McMahon, the husband-and-wife team that grew the organization into the powerhouse it is today. The couple were well aware of Phillips’ brazen misconduct but did little to stop him, according to the complaint.

“This was not an isolated case,” said attorney Greg Gutzler, who represents the five unnamed plaintiffs. “There was a culture of abuse and it started at the top.”

According to the lawsuit, filed in Baltimore County Circuit Court, the abuse occurred in several states, including Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania. The plaintiffs were all between 13 and 15 when they met Phillips.

Gutzler said the plaintiffs finally found the strength to come forward and sue after Vince McMahon resigned from WWE parent company TKO Group Holdings earlier this year amid his own sexual misconduct scandal. He resigned in January after a woman who previously worked for WWE filed a federal lawsuit accusing him of serious misconduct, including offering her to a star wrestler for sex and distributing pornographic images and videos of her. McMahon had already resigned as WWE CEO in 2022 amid an investigation into allegations matching those in the federal lawsuit.

An attorney representing McMahon, Jessica Rosenberg, denied the latest allegations of abuse in Wednesday’s complaint. In a written statement, she referenced New York Post reports from the early 90s and said the latest lawsuit alleges “these false allegations.”

“We will vigorously defend Mr. McMahon and are confident that the court will find these allegations to be untrue and without merit,” the statement said.

Emails were sent to Linda McMahon and her organization for comment.

Attorneys for the other defendants are not yet listed in online court records. Emails for comment were sent to WWE and TKO Group Holdings.

McMahon was the leader and most famous face of WWE for decades. When he bought what was then the World Wrestling Federation from his father in 1982, wrestling matches took place in small arenas and appeared on local cable channels. WWE matches are now held in professional sports arenas, and the organization has a large foreign following.

WWE merged last April with the company that runs the Ultimate Fighting Championship to create the $21.4 billion sports entertainment company TKO Group Holdings.

The lawsuit alleges that WWE executives “gave Phillips free rein to use his very public WWE personality and image to attract local kids,” allowing them to meet famous wrestlers and attend the popular events.

It is claimed that the McMahons fired Phillips in 1988 due to abuse allegations that surfaced around that time, but they rehired him six weeks later.

Linda McMahon, who resigned as the company’s CEO in 2009, later led the Small Business Administration under former President Donald Trump.

The lawsuit was filed under a Maryland law that took effect last year after state lawmakers voted to eliminate the statute of limitations for such cases. Before the change, people in Maryland who were sexually abused as children could file lawsuits until they turned 38.

Lawmakers approved the change with the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal in mind after a scathing investigative report revealed the extent of the problem within the Archdiocese of Baltimore. But it opened the door to legal action against a range of other entities, including the state’s juvenile justice agency.

However, the future of these claims is uncertain as the law’s constitutionality is currently being decided by the Maryland Supreme Court.