Civil lawsuit accuses BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff of raping Utah woman in 2023
Brigham Young quarterback Jake Retzlaff has been accused of raping a woman at his Utah residence in November 2023.
In a civil lawsuit filed this week in state court in Salt Lake County, a woman identified in documents as Jane Doe alleges that Retzlaff 'raped, strangled, and bit' her after she and a friend came over to his place to play the video game 'Fortnite.' The claimant is asking for more than $300,000 in damages over claims including assault, battery and 'emotional distress, humiliation, embarrassment, mental distress and anxiety.'
Retzlaff's attorney, Mark Baute, said on Wednesday in a statement to media outlets that Retzlaff is 'factually innocent.'
'We look forward to proving that innocence,' Baute said. 'Jake's focus this year will be on football. We don't try cases in the media, we will respect the process and establish Jake's innocence through the judicial system.'
Retzlaff played two years at Corona Centennial High before spending a year each at Riverside City College and Golden West College in Huntington Beach. He has played 17 games in two seasons at BYU and led the Cougars to an 11-2 record last year. He has one year of college eligibility remaining.
BYU said in a statement to The Times that it learned about the lawsuit Wednesday.
'The university takes any allegation very seriously, following all processes and guidelines mandated by Title IX,' BYU wrote. 'Due to federal and university privacy laws and practices for students, the university will not be able to provide additional comment.'
According to the lawsuit, Doe and Retzlaff met via social media in October and began messaging. They met in person in late November when Retzlaff invited the Salt Lake County resident to his place in Utah County. She and a friend came over 'that evening and went to his room to play Fortnite,' the lawsuit states.
The filing states that Doe interacted with 'Retzlaff's friends and teammates' while playing the video game. Later, after her friend left, Doe and Retzlaff were kissing while watching a movie when 'Retzlaff began escalating the situation, attempting to touch her breasts and genital area,' according to the complaint.
The lawsuit states that Doe 'tried to de-escalate the situation and attempted to slow things down, trying to pull away, and saying 'wait.' She did not want to do anything sexual with him.'
Retzlaff's physical contact started 'causing her pain,' the complaint states, and Doe objected — saying 'no' and 'wait, stop' — and 'wanted to leave, but was scared and felt like she could not get away.'
According to the lawsuit, Retzlaff would go on to allegedly pull Doe's hair, forcefully kiss her, bite her lip (which allegedly caused a cut) and 'put his hands around her neck and started to press down so that she could not breathe,' among other alleged actions before raping her.
Doe left after Retzlaff fell asleep, the lawsuit states. She went to a hospital 'a few days later,' according to the lawsuit, and had a rape kit performed and photos taken of her injuries. She also spoke with the Provo Police Department but initially did not give Retzlaff's name because 'she was scared and in shock and not ready to confront him,' the lawsuit states.
'At some point after speaking to the police, an officer reached out to her asking for the name because someone else filed a complaint against a football player and the police wanted to see if it was the same person,' the lawsuit states.
'At that point, [Doe] shared Retzlaff's name, and the Provo police then encouraged her not to do anything because, as they claimed, 'sexual assault victims never get justice.''
In a statement released Wednesday night, the Provo Police Department said it 'is aware of a civil suit involving an allegation of rape made by an anonymous plaintiff against a BYU football player' but 'has not been served any legal filing relating to this civil case.'
The department said it was able 'to identify a possible correlating case report' based on the details of the civil case. The initials of the woman who called in that report match those of Retzlaff's accuser. The Times does not name victims of sexual assault unless they choose to be identified.
'Our records show that on November 27th, 2023, our department received a phone report from a woman ... who gave a similar account. She was treated with courtesy and care,' the department stated.
'The complainant in that case was given several opportunities to identify her abuser. She declined to do so, as is her right, and the case was subsequently closed. Collected evidence was examined, and it revealed no actionable investigative leads. Our victim advocates followed up several times to offer services but received no response.'
The department continued: 'The civil suit states that Provo Police personnel discouraged the victim from proceeding, by telling her there is no justice for victims of sexual abuse. From everything we have reviewed, this is not true. We have a team of dedicated investigators and victim advocates whose sole mission is to provide justice to victims of sexual abuse. They do not send people away, warning them there is no justice for victims.
'Our Special Victims Unit investigations regularly result in criminal accountability for offenders. We hope the plaintiff chooses to make a statement to further the criminal investigation if desired.'
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