After one of their former players, who was selected by the NFL, and two of his college teammates were accused of rape by an unnamed woman, football administrators at San Diego State University came under scrutiny.
Star punter Matt Araiza, along with ex-teammates Zavier Leonard and Nowlin Ewaliko, are accused of gang-raping the complainant at a Halloween party in October of last year in a civil lawsuit filed under the alias “Jane Doe.” After being selected earlier this year by the Buffalo Bills, Araiza was just fired by them.
Doe claims she wants to press charges in a civil lawsuit she filed last Thursday in San Diego County Superior Court using the name Jane Doe. Early in August, the San Diego Police Department sent the District Attorney’s Office the findings of its criminal investigation, and the case is still being looked into.
The victim Doe spoke to CBS Mornings with her face covered. The lawsuit claims that Araiza gave the then-17-year-old a drink while she was drinking with friends at a Halloween party in October of last year. Araiza then allegedly led her to a corner of the yard and instructed her to engage in oral sex with him.
https://twitter.com/zaid_SportsZion/status/1565294082016280576
“Then he turned me over and had sex with me from the back, and he then took me inside and led me to a bedroom,” Doe said. “I was pushed down, face down onto the bed and I started going in and out of consciousness and the memories get kind of blocky, um, but several guys took turns having sex with me from behind.”
Doe alleges that her nose, ear, and belly button piercings were torn out. At least four males were in the room, according to her attorney Dan Gilleon, but they are certain of the three men included in the lawsuit, including Zavier Leonard and Nowlin Ewaliko. Both contest the charges.
She also claims that she went to the police the following day, and an investigation was started. But no charges have been issued after 10 months. Many people are perplexed as to why the charges have taken so long to surface, and some have proposed that the institution kept it a secret in order to preserve a successful football season.
The high school student’s neck and legs are bruised, as seen in the video and pictures given by her lawyer. The complaint states that the accuser was never given her phone back that evening. She claimed in the lawsuit that she thought she might have been videotaped during the alleged rape.
“I have no idea how long I was even in there or how many guys had sex with me,” she wrote. “All I keep replaying in my mind is being face down in a random bed waiting for it to be over.” The three guys who are implicated have refuted the charges. Araiza’s parents released a statement, saying, “There has been a war waged against our son.”
“He has been tried and convicted in the media based on information released solely from the alleged victim and her attorney. The rule of law is innocent until proven guilty,” they said.
