Report: Accuser won't attend UF hearing regarding Antonio Callaway
A woman who has accused Florida wide receiver Antonio Callaway and transferred Florida quarterback Treon Harris of sexual assault will not be attending a school code of conduct hearing because of the appointed arbiter in the case.
According to ESPN, a woman accused the two players of sexual assault in December. She’s not attending the hearing for Callaway, set for Friday, because the hearing officer is both a Florida grad and donor to the football and men’s basketball programs.
“This has been a difficult decision but as I previously indicated to you, the fact that UF has hired a football booster to adjudicate a sexual assault allegation against one of the team’s own football players is a fundamentally skewed process in which [the complainant] refuses to participate,” Clune wrote in an Aug. 5 letter to UF deputy general counsel Amy Hass. “To be clear, [the complainant] remains very willing to participate in a fair and unbiased disciplinary process. Mr. Calloway’s behavior has had a great impact on her life and continuing as a student at UF is of great importance to her and her future.”
Harris and Callaway were barred from campus and suspended from the team this spring for what was termed a code of conduct issue. Callaway was recently cleared to rejoin the team for practice while Harris announced his intention to transfer. Harris reportedly transferred as part of a plea deal regarding the investigation.
Harris, a junior from Miami, announced last month that he was leaving Florida and transferring to another school. Sources familiar with the case told ESPN that Harris agreed to leave Florida as part of a plea deal related to the Title IX case. He also apologized to the woman, the sources said.
Clune represented the woman who accused ex-Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston of sexual assault. Winston wasn’t charged with any crime and the woman accusing both Harris and Callaway did not report the incident to police, per ESPN.
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Callaway’s lawyer responded to Clune’s letter in a statement published by the Tampa Bay Times. This seems quite cordial, don’t you think?
We have read what the complainant’ s attorney has released to the press.
We consider his actions inappropriate and an attempt at intimidation.
Since the complainant’s attorney has chosen to go to the press in this matter, we assume that he will be releasing the hundreds of pages that made up the University of Florida’s investigation. We assume that he will be releasing the sworn affidavits in this case. We assume that he will be releasing the complainant’s text messages in the investigation. We assume that he will be releasing the complainant’s multitude of varying and conflicting stories.
We are not going to besmirch his client in the press. The totality of the investigation which is over one-thousand (1,000) pages will do that for us.
Our client has asked us not to release anything at this point. Because of the conduct of the complainant’s attorney, that may change in the future.
Schools are mandated to investigate claims of sexual assault independent of any police involvement. The report states Jake Schickel, the appointed hearing officer at Florida, received both his undergrad and law degrees at the school.
Erica Kinsman, the woman who accused Winston of sexual assault, received a settlement from Florida State following a Title IX suit against the school regarding its handling of her investigation.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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