UPDATED August 27, 8:53 p.m. ET: The Buffalo Bills have officially released Matt Araiza.
See original story from 8/26/22 below.
Buffalo Bills rookie punter Matt Araiza and two of his former San Diego State teammates have been accused of gang raping a 17-year-old girl.
As ESPN reports, a lawsuit was filed in San Diego County Superior Court this week naming Araiza, Aztecs freshman Zavier Leonard, and Nowlin Ewaliko. The three are facing claims of rape, false imprisonment, and gender violence. Araiza was selected by the Bills in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
Araiza was 21 at the time of the reported incident. The punter has been accused of having sex with the then-high school senior at a party at his residence on Oct. 17, 2021, later taking the girl into a room with at least three other men. She was allegedly repeatedly raped for an hour and a half, when the off-campus party was shut down.
The minor has only been named as Jane Doe in the lawsuit because she was underage at the time. It has been alleged she went in and out of consciousness throughout the ordeal. Her nose, belly button, and ear piercing were reportedly pulled out, and she recalled bleeding from her vagina. The victim added she did not see Araiza, who was aware she was in high school, pour the drink he handed her and believes it might have been spiked.
Dan Gilleon is the attorney who filed the lawsuit, and he said the Bills were informed of the allegations last month. In a statement, the team said it was “recently made aware of a civil complaint involving Matt from October 2021. Due to the serious nature of the complaint, we conducted a thorough examination of this matter. As this is an ongoing civil case, we will have no other comment at this point.” The NFL has also shared a statement and said the alleged incident happened before he was drafted into the league, so he’s not subject to the NFL’s personal conduct policy.
Matt Araiza’s attorney Kerry Armstrong denied the accusations and called the lawsuit a “shakedown.” The girl reported the rape to the San Diego police the day after it happened, and an investigation was opened. Detectives have since submitted findings to the district attorney’s office. Araiza admitted he had sex with the underage girl, but later told her that he didn’t remember.
“This was a horrific crime, the kind of which happens all too often,” said Gilleon. “What makes these crimes different is not only that they were committed by self-entitled athletes. Just as awful as the crimes, for months, multiple organizations—SDSU, the San Diego Police Department, the San Diego District Attorney, and now the Buffalo Bills—have acted the part of enablers looking the other way in denial that my client deserves justice even if the defendants are prized athletes.”
