Ex-Bills P Araiza will not be charged after gang rape allegation

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SAN DIEGO, AP Former Buffalo Bills punter Matt Araiza will not be charged in an alleged gang rape of a 17-year-old girl at an off-campus party last year while playing football for San Diego State University, prosecutors said Wednesday.

The San Diego County District Attorneys Office said no charges will be filed against Araiza’s former Aztec teammates who were also charged in the reported October 2021 assault.

The decision came following an investigation involving more than 35 witness interviews and evidence from 10 search warrants including cellphone data and video from the night in question, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement. a statement.

Ultimately, prosecutors determined it was clear the evidence did not support filing criminal charges and there was no path to a possible criminal conviction. Prosecutors can only file charges when they ethically believe they can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, the statement said.

Araizas’ attorney, Kerry Armstrong, and attorney for the accusers, Dan Gilleon, did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment on the prosecutor’s decision.

The Bills released the rookie punter in August just days after backing Araiza based on the findings of what the team called its extensive review of the allegations included in a lawsuit.

The now 18-year-old accuser alleged in the lawsuit that Araiza, then 21, had sex with her in a side yard of an off-campus residence hall before bringing her to a bedroom where a group of men took turns raping her. She said she blacked out and lost consciousness as the men assaulted her for around 90 minutes.

She told her friends that evening that she had been raped and reported the assault to the police the next day, according to the court file.

The lawsuit named Araiza along with former Aztec teammates Zaver Leonard and Nowlin Paa Ewaliko, who are no longer on the team.

The university has been heavily criticized for delaying an administrative investigation into the allegations. San Diego state officials said they postponed the investigation at the request of police for fear that conducting their own investigation would interfere with the criminal investigation.

Araiza was dubbed the Punt God and honored as a consensus All-American for his booming kicks that helped SDSU to a school-best 12-2 season in his senior year. In April, he was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft.

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