interesting turn of events.
If there was a rape kit performed, should be easy enough to prove if the tests say a forced rape occurred. Sounds more like someone wanting a piece of the NIL money. I’m sure we will see more of this in college sports.
Ruh roh!
Not good anyway you slice it
Another two years thing. I get tired of these accusers who wait forever. If the rape kit shows he raped her, then the police would have charged him 2 years ago. If there ever was a rape kit done.
I hate to indict Jake. He may very well be innocent. Seems sketchy from the girl. But these things find a way to drag on and on. BYU will get really nervous if the fall comes and Jake still has no resolution. This could be a big deal with major fb repercussion’s.
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I once knew a teacher who was falsely accused of sexual misconduct by a student. The media ran the story repeatedly, and the school district placed him on leave while an investigation took place. Public scrutiny followed, branding him as a predator in both news coverage and social discussions.
As a result, he lost his job, his marriage collapsed when his wife believed the accusations, and most devastatingly, he lost his reputation.
Six months later, the police uncovered the truth—the student had fabricated the claims out of resentment for receiving a poor grade. Shockingly, she had done this before to another teacher under similar circumstances.
The true tragedy in this story is how a false accusation unraveled a man’s life.
This is why I always hold skepticism when consuming media narratives. Every individual, no matter their circumstances, deserves the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.
A teacher where I taught moved to Los Angeles to a school in gang territory. He was there for a few years and then the same thing happened to him. The thing is, the claim of touching this high school girl happened during class at his desk. Every student in the class said he did not do it. Didn’t matter. He was removed and put on administrative leave. He eventually got back into teaching but all the investigators wanted was a notch in their belt of conviction. Fortunately, his wife stuck with him. But, in order to get back into teaching he was forced by threat to plead guilty. Eventually it was thrown out. Trusting the investigation is a problem too.
Retzlaff is innocent until proven guilty, of course, and the nature of this is that there will never be proof. It will be his word against hers. That said, there will always be a cloud and some question.
It is entirely possible that they were doing things they shouldn’t have been doing (stopping short of what a rape kit would reveal. It’s too late for that, anyway). That kind of stuff has gone on at BYU, as with other colleges since forever. Ideally, LDS kids or BYU non-members would keep standards, but many don’t, and this is arguably worse among athletes and other “elites” on campus (maybe it’s no worse among athletes; there has been so much slippage in standards at BYU and among LDS young people in general, we pretty much mirror the world in most things like swearing, tattooes, piercings, grooming, and even sexual mores).
Sad, because there will be a cloud. Maybe unjustly, maybe justly. No one but Retzlaff and the girl will know for sure.
I don’t know how much you are around young people today. In swearing, tattooes, piercings, Word of Wisdom (coffee and tea drinks), and approach to the law of chastity, our youth are largely just like their peers. This is true of missionaries, too, and part of the problem is the new “For the Strength of Youth” that has no standards and is supposed to be a higher law (“no more checklists!”). My fourth child leaves on his mission in August, and the other three have all told me that most missionaries (more so with sisters than elders, but largely both) are shocking in their lax attitudes on all sorts of traditional Church standards. The number of missionaries who go inactive, formally leave the Church, or are on social media not wearing their garments is a very high number. My kids are saddened by this.
“Pumping out tens of thousands of missionaries” doesn’t move my needle very much. The quality and commitment of them has dropped and is falling. It’s not a very high bar, because it’s a rite of passage and a social thing for many of them.
It sounded to me like the Retzlaff accusation was more inappropriate, unwanted touching than foll intercourse, so I wouldn’t expect a rape kit to turn up anything, even if it were done quickly. If there was inappropriate touching/groping, that’s just as serious to me as “actual sex.”
None of us are ever going to know what actually happened. We won’t know whether the accusations are completely false, sort of false, fault on both sides, or what.
The missionaries we have in our neck of the country have been awesome. Many have started out normal and their testimonies have strengthened. Not much different than back in the 70’s when I worked in the MTC as a custodian. The things I saw are what you saying about the kids today. Yet, the missionaries that helped teach me before my baptism were awesome. I talked to some after they ended their missions and they all had the let down because of the lifestyle they had lived for 2 years and in their spiritual callings. Nothing new today. Same things happen to some elder’s quorum presidents and bishops. We just have to support all who struggle.
The rape kit factually has the answer. I hope the young lady ends this before it really hurts her.
There are still some good kids, for sure.
The rape kit factually has the answer only if DNA is deposited. It wouldn’t show anything if there was inappropriate and unwanted groping.
The reality is that if you are making out with girls, there is a chance you might be accused of something you shouldn’t have done. Especially today. It might not even be technically true, but the lines can be blurry. It wouldn’t hurt for youth today to strive for Spencer W. Kimball-esque standards with dating and courtship. The biggest failing has been today’s youth’s parents instilling this in them, and it’s causing all kinds of problems (guilt, experience, accusations, bad habits in marriage and later life, etc.).
She claimed choking and bruising too. So, that would be in the kits report. However, the report happened a few days after the alleged assault. There was also a couple of other people there. Her friend and another football player. If there was proof, there would be a criminal trial. This is nothing more than squeezing Retzlaff and BYU’s money out of them. She needs to drop it now. I wonder if her attorney is a graduate of the U of U.
I only read “She claims Retzlaff became angry and shouted at her and that she tried to make a phone call but her cell phone was dead. The lawsuit then alleges Retzlaff sexually assaulted her.” Bruising would be evident, but as you say, a few days later that gets blurry.
It sounds like they were back in the bedroom areas for at least some of this. Is that still strictly enforced by the honor code office? It sounds like even if he is innocent of the serious charges, he was doing things he shouldn’t have (that were at minimum, unwise and dumb).
Lots of mud in the water, and there will never be evidence as to the serious charges. But what about the honor code or consent issues? We also won’t know for sure.
Not sure what and how they handle honor code violations nowadays. We don’t know if this was reported to the honor code people back when it happened and Retzlaff already served his suspension already back in 2023. Maybe he already served his suspension before he took over for the injury to what’s his name.
I suspect there is a lot less honor code enforcement now. Like with the youth standards — it’s all honor system, and work it out with your ecclesiastical leader if there is an issue. It probably only gets involved if roommates are upset about violations (people sleeping over and sharing beds, etc.).
It’s a lot different from even the 90s when I was there.
It wasn’t that long ago that we lost an opportunity to get to the Final 4 when Davies got suspended. I’m sure this is something Sitaki didn’t want.
The attorney’s statement is particularly intriguing. There’s some legal terminology at play here, so I took a moment to research it.
In legal terms, “factually innocent” means the accused did not commit the act they are charged with—not simply that there is insufficient evidence to convict, but that they are truly, demonstrably innocent.
This is a much stronger assertion than “not guilty,” which only signifies that the prosecution failed to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. Claiming someone is “factually innocent” suggests that the alleged events did not occur as described—or possibly, did not happen at all.
In this case, when Jake Retzlaff’s attorney states he is “factually innocent,” they are making a definitive assertion that:
- The alleged assault did not unfold in the manner described,
- Retzlaff did not engage in the actions he is accused of (rape, strangulation, battery, etc.),
- And the defense will provide evidence to affirm his innocence, rather than merely arguing against liability or criminal charges.
Essentially, the attorney is establishing Retzlaff’s defense as a complete denial of wrongdoing—one grounded in disproving the accusations, rather than relying on legal technicalities or gaps in evidence.
Excellent information. In a civil trial, the bar is lower than reasonable doubt. It’s on the preponderance of evidence. The attorney is using the terminology factual evidence to say there is no evidence.
If Retzlaff actually raped this girl then his football career being over is the least of his problems. If it was consensual sex his BYU career is probably over unless he is willing to go through the process Brandon Davies went through. Then he would probably have to sit a year or maybe he transfers.
I find the whole thing very sad. I really like Retzlaff. I doubt he raped or assaulted the girl, I am hoping the story isn’t true. My biggest hope is that he is completely exonerated and he wasn’t involved with the girl in any way and he finishes his career at BYU. It is a hope, unfortunately it is only a hope and I fear at best it is found that he had consensual sex and he is suspended from school for a semester and if that is
the case I doubt he returns to BYU.
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This is a sad situation. Either way, Jake will not take another snap in a BYU uniform under center this year. His BYU career is over barring a complete withdrawal of the complaint by the girl …. In the next 30 days.