GWYNETH ROBERTS | Journal Star
Within a week of reports that two former Nebraska football players faced suspension from the university for allegedly violating the school’s sexual misconduct policies, Lincoln Police have heard from more people who say they were victims of sexual assault involving one or both players.
In response to a public records request for reports involving Katerian LeGrone or Andre Hunt, Lincoln Police on Thursday provided five reports of rape and two reports of sexual molestation, including the initial report from Aug. 25 that led to the players’ suspension from the team last fall and their arrests earlier this week.
The subsequent incident reports do not list the names of suspects, but the four involving rapes are alleged to have occurred between Aug. 17, 2018, and Feb. 2, 2019, in the same unit of the on-campus residence hall where the players are believed to have stayed as freshmen.
On Tuesday, shortly after 5 p.m., police went to the off-campus Lincoln apartment where LeGrone and Hunt lived this school year and arrested them in connection to the 19-year-old woman’s report alleging she had been raped there in August.
“The arrests were vital for the safety of the University of Nebraska community, as my client is just one of a growing number of victims preyed on by these students,” said Cari Simon, of the Fierberg National Law Group, in a statement to the Journal Star.
Lawyers for LeGrone and Hunt have told the Journal Star that they believed their clients had done nothing wrong.
Neither player has been charged.
For the second straight day on Thursday, prosecutors asked to delay a court hearing against LeGrone, who is accused of first-degree sexual assault.
LeGrone, 19, got out of jail Thursday morning and sat in the front row of the courtroom before Lancaster County Court Judge Laurie Yardley called up his case.
“The state wants some additional time to go over some things before court,” Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Chris Reid said.
Yardley continued the hearing to Dec. 20, the same day she ordered Hunt to appear. Hunt, 19, had been booked into jail on suspicion of aiding and abetting but got out Wednesday afternoon.
Late Thursday afternoon, Lancaster County Attorney Pat Condon said his office received a substantial amount of information Tuesday that they need to review before making a charging decision.
Police on Wednesday morning said they would not release any more details about the arrests until charges are filed, including if the roommates, both redshirt freshmen this season, were being investigated on new rape allegations.
Police heard from one alleged rape victim on Friday and others on Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday, all after ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” obtained the Title IX report by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln stating the “greater weight of the evidence” supported that LeGrone and Hunt “engaged in sexual assault and sexual harassment, in violation of university sexual misconduct policies.”
Last week, a spokesman for the football program confirmed that both players had entered the NCAA’s transfer portal and they were removed from the Husker roster.
