University of Miami FL Freshman Football Player Charged with Sexual Battery

The Coral Gables, Florida police department arrested a 19-year-old redshirt freshman football player Wednesday and charged him with sexual battery. He allegedly raped a woman just before 4 a.m. Saturday at a dorm.

According to the arrest report, the woman came home to her dormitory supposedly drunk and ill when the man came into her room reportedly interested in her well being. She told police that while she was lying in bed the man raped her and she was physically unable to fight him off due to her being intoxicated and because he is so much larger than her. The man stands six feet three inches tall and weighs 295 pounds.

Police said that the man denied having sex with the woman, but later allegedly retracted his statement. His lawyers made a statement that the man did not engage in any criminal conduct and that he did not violate any of the University of Miami’s rules.

The man has supposedly been suspended from the UM football program. He is the second football player from the school to be arrested in less than two months.

Drug use, particularly alcohol, is commonly involved in rape. A 2007 U.S. study published in the Psychology of Women Quarterly reported that 47 percent of such rapes, both the victim and the accused had been drinking. In 17 percent of rape cases, only the perpetrator was under the influence of alcohol. It was found that in 7 percent of rape cases only the victim had been drinking.

A person who is physically helpless to resist sexual activity is one who is unconscious, asleep or for any other reason unable to communicate their unwillingness to participate in sexual relations. This type of situation usually arises when one or both parties have been partaking in alcoholic beverage consumption. While it is perfectly legal for two willing parties to get drunk and have sex, it is illegal to have sex with someone who is physically incapable of communicating their objections.

Sexual battery is Florida’s term for rape. Sexual battery charges are fact-based, which means that these cases are usually based on one person’s recount of activities against another’s. Depending on the circumstances of the crime, a person convicted of sexual battery on a physically helpless victim could face anywhere from six to 30 years in prison and a lifetime registration as a sexual offender. It is for these reasons our law firm uses a team of investigators to collect facts as soon as possible while memories are still fresh.

If you or someone you love has been accused of rape anywhere in the state of Florida, contact the Florida Sex Crimes Defense Lawyers online or call 866-608-5529.