SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — On Tuesday, 10News spoke with the alleged victim in the sexual assault case involving three SDSU football players, including former Bills punter Matt Araiza.
Araiza was officially released from the Bills this weekend amid the controversy.
ABC 10News sat down with the young woman who shared her side of the story.
The alleged victim, who 10News is calling Jane Doe, was just 17 when she says she attended an off-campus party where the unthinkable happened. She spoke with 10News about what she remembers from that night, and what she hopes happens now.
Jane Doe says she was driving when her friend texted her that Matt Araiza had been released from the Bills.
"I saw it...and I pulled over...and I started crying and screaming," she said.
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A warning: some readers may find the following details disturbing.
10News asked Doe to recount the night in October when the assault allegedly happened. She says she and her high school friends had been drinking when they arrived at the off-campus Halloween party.
"That's when Matt came up to me, started talking to me, flirting."
She says she didn’t know who he was at the time when he poured her a drink, before leading her to the side yard.
"He asked me to perform oral sex on him and then he turned me around and had sex with me from behind."
At that point, Doe says he led her into another room where other men were waiting.
"I was pushed onto the bed face down and I started falling in and out of consciousness.”
She says she remembers feeling helpless and terrified.
“Several men were taking turns assaulting me from behind [...] I felt like these huge men...I wouldn't have been able to do anything to them. And so I might as well let them do what they wanted to do so I wouldn't get any more hurt than I already was.”
When asked if she communicated that what was happening was nonconsensual, Doe replied, "I feel like it should have been clear to the point where I'm profusely bleeding from my vagina, from all the holes where my piercings had been ripped out, when I'm covered in bruises I'm crying. I think it should be clear to anybody that that's not consensual sex."
Doe spoke about her thoughts following a statement from Araiza’s attorney, Kerry Armstrong, that suggested Doe was coming forward for money, now that Araiza was in the NFL.
"It makes me want to throw up genuinely. I reported it long before the draft. I reported it the day after it happened.”
Doe says although she reported it and underwent a thorough rape exam the following day, she’s still waiting for the results. She believes the DNA evidence will help her case and wants to know if she was drugged.
"I definitely think those results will help me get closure."
Araiza’s parents released a statement this week:
"The rule of law is innocent until proven guilty. That is not our experience. There has been war waged on our son. He has been tried and convicted in the media based on information released solely from the alleged victim and her attorney, much of it through social media. People have taken his information as factual, when it is not.
We do not wish this experience on anyone, but question why our son is the only one receiving this kind of treatment by social media and national news media. The vitriol has been on him alone.
He has been extorted, discriminated against, harassed and the subject of multiple and continuous threats of violence and death. He has been released from his job and our entire family continues to receive horrific threats of violence and death. We have all been canceled. Every member of our family.
Salacious rumors grew as fact. There are multiple witness reports to deny the claims that are made against him. The legal system is designed to find the facts and make decisions. They should be allowed to do that."
Doe says she has read the statement.
"My heart hurts for his family. Genuinely I can't blame them for defending their family member,” Doe said.
She says in a phone call with detectives listening, Araiza and the two other players named in her civil suit admitted to having sex with her that night.
"They had told me that they knew that I was hurt...and they were so sorry that I was hurt. Others told me that I had wanted it and that it was my fault because I wanted it."
10News asked Doe what her message is for victims of assault. She replied: "That they're not alone and that coming forward...as scary as it may be...is better than staying silent.”
Doe said she and her attorneys hope the District Attorney’s Office files criminal charges against the men named in her case. Doe is being represented by Gilleon Law Firm.
10News also asked San Diego Police why Doe hasn’t received the results of her rape examination. We are still waiting for an answer.
Listen to the full interview below:
