SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah State football player has been charged with sexually assaulting a woman at a party, marking the latest in a string of similar cases at the school in recent years.
Jamaal A. Evans, 19, took an intoxicated woman into a room and assaulted her on June 17, prosecutors who filed rape and forcible sodomy charges said in court documents filed Thursday.
When the woman’s friend confronted him about what happened, he told her “when you’re in the moment and you want what you want, just got to do it sometimes,” and “he gave that girl what she wanted,” according to the documents.
Evans told police the sex was consensual, according to documents. He said he was “a little buzzed,” but the woman didn’t seem drunk until she vomited after the encounter.
His lawyer Shannon Demler did not immediately return a message seeking comment Friday.
Other partygoers told police the woman was acting intoxicated and her friend told police the woman was “completely incoherent” after the alleged assault. The woman told police she couldn’t remember what happened.
Evans, who graduated from Centennial High School in Las Vegas, redshirted as a freshman linebacker at Utah State last year. He’s now been suspended from the team in the northern Utah city of Logan.
The charges come as a former Utah State football player heads for trial on charges alleging he assaulted seven women between 2013 and 2015. Torrey Green has maintained his innocence.
Two fraternity members at Utah State have also pleaded guilty in sexual assault cases in recent years. The university has also pledged reform after an investigation found a pattern of sexual misconduct in its piano program.
Utah State now requires all students to undergo training designed to prevent sexual assault, and the athletic department adds its own training, said Eric Warren, a spokesman for the university.
Last year, the football team brought in former NFL player Chris Draft as well as the Logan police chief during a series of events aimed at preventing sexual assault.
Warren said Utah State takes the allegations seriously and will not tolerate any sexual misconduct at the school.
