© Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn
The Provo Police Department in Utah is catching heat after a young woman alleged that an officer encouraged her not to pursue sexual assault charges against BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff. The woman, known only Jane Doe A.G., is now pursuing a civil case against Retzlaff.
Retzlaff rose to stardom as the starting quarterback of the Cougars a year ago. But the plaintiff is claiming in a civil suit that he raped and strangled her at his apartment in November 2023. The woman states that she later went to a local hospital to have a sexual assault forensic exam, sometimes known as a “rape kit,” performed. Afterward, the woman claims she was told by police not to file a report because they told her “sexual assault victims never get justice.”
In the nine page court filing, which goes into disturbing detail, she claims to have met Retzlaff on social media and began communicating for a few weeks. He later allegedly invited her to come over to his apartment while he was with friends. The complaint says she and a friend arrived, went to Retzlaff’s room to play Fortnite, and met his friends and teammates.
Jane Doe’s friend then allegedly left the apartment. She states that she and Retzlaff watched a movie and began kissing, but she didn’t want to go further, and tried pulling away and pushing his hand down, telling him “wait,” “no,” and “wait, stop.”
The filing states that Retzlaff then sexually assaulted the plaintiff.
Retzlaff’s attorney, Mark Baute, claims that the star quarterback is “is a nice young man. He is also factually innocent, and we look forward to proving that innocence. 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.”
Baute also served as the defense attorney for former NBA MVP Derrick Rose in his 2016 civil rape trial. Rose and his co-defendants were clear of wrongdoing in that case.
Provo police issued a statement claiming that a report from November 27, 2023, shows that Jane Doe “was given several opportunities to identify her abuser,” but did not, and the case was closed. The statement also claimed that “victim advocates followed up several times to offer services.” Police claim that she did not respond to those calls.