Former Buffalo Bills punter, Matt Araiza, has finally broken his silence regarding the gang rape accusations that led to his release from the Bills team last year. Matt plans to sue attorney Dan Gilleon, the lawyer for the alleged victim, citing defamation and a lack of opportunity to defend himself against the allegations.
Araiza is one of the latest individuals in the long list of wrongfully accused successful males who have suffered great loss in terms of their public image and resources owing to false allegations.
Former Bills punter breaks silence over gang r*pe accusation
The civil lawsuit against Araiza and others alleging gang rape came to light in August of last year. But in December, his name was cleared as it was found that he left the party hours before the gang rape happened.
Despite the lack of criminal charges, the accusations had severe consequences for Araiza, as he was subsequently released from the Buffalo Bills.
Matt Araiza recently talked about this matter on HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” segment. He shared that all the allegations imposed on him were false and that he was shocked that how someone can accuse other people like this. He also emphasized that he was not even given a chance to defend himself, “No chance to defend myself.”
Matt Araiza to sue alleged victim’s lawyer for defamation
Matt revealed his plans to sue attorney Dan Gilleon, the lawyer representing the alleged victim, for defamation,
“I’ve already hired an attorney for it, and things have already been drafted,” Araiza said. “I will never waive my right to sue him. That’s coming.”
Gilleon, in response, stated that the civil suit against Araiza would proceed, claiming that Araiza’s involvement in the events of that night had contributed significantly to the harm suffered by the alleged victim.
“We are not saying that he was, and we are not saying that he wasn’t,” Gilleon said. “Let’s say he was not one of the men in there. That doesn’t absolve him of liability.”
“Our allegation is, is he contributed heavily to the harm that she suffered that night,” Gilleon later said.
“He had sex with my client. Following that, she ended up having sex with multiple guys and came out of there bloodied, in shock. Ended up at the hospital, ended up with the police, and ended up traumatized. So that’s what I mean by the gang rape. Gang rapes can occur for two days. They can occur over time. They can occur multiple places. So that’s the clarification,” he added.
In light of recent developments, male athletes should consider their moves around the opposite gender extremely carefully. While real crimes do happen, the high number of bad-faith actors should not be ignored.
