The attorney for a California teenager who has accused a Buffalo Bills rookie and two of his former college teammates of gang rape last fall said Friday the NFL team has not contacted him for details despite saying it had conducted a “thorough investigation.”
The Bills selected Matt Araiza out of San Diego State in the sixth round of the NFL Draft in April, and named him their starting punter this week. A person familiar with the case said the Bills were not aware of the allegations against Araiza in April. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not commented publicly about the allegations.
Executives from two different teams said they became aware of Araiza’s involvement in an incident during the draft process, but neither person knew the extent of the allegations.
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Dan Gilleon, who represents the California teenager, said he has not heard from team officials since first informing them of the allegations against Araiza in late July, when he says he had a phone conversation with team counsel Kathryn D’Angelo.
“She seemed like she was concerned. She says she’ll get back to me, and then she never did,” said Gilleon, who posted and then deleted a screenshot on social media of the email he says he sent to D’Angelo. “I even followed up and said, `Hey, you guys haven’t talked to me and called me back like you said you would.′ And they just ignored that, too.”
After the Bills declined multiple requests for comment on Friday, coach Sean McDermott was clearly shaken when he addressed the situation following a 21-0 preseason loss at Carolina.
“It’s a situation that’s extremely serious. Just hard to go through. It’s not a situation that I or we take lightly whatsoever,” he said. “I can tell you this my heart, my thoughts and prayers go out to the people involved. And that includes Matt. It includes both sides here. The victim and everyone involved.”
McDermott said he was surprised and shocked by some of the revelations that have come out over the past day, and repeatedly stressed the team has work to do. Asked what work needed to be done, he answered by saying: “It’s just a matter of trying to find the truth at the end of the day.”
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Previously, the Bills’ only comment on the lawsuit came a day earlier in saying they were aware of the allegations and had conducted their own investigation.
“The facts of the incident are not what they are portrayed in the lawsuit or in the press,” Araiza said in a statement released through his agent, Joe Linta. “I look forward to quickly setting the record straight.”
It was unclear if the Bills investigation was finished before they named him to their opening-day roster and the team statement provided no details, a familiar lack of transparency that raises fresh scrutiny on how NFL teams conduct internal reviews into allegations of misconduct.
The Bills informed the NFL of the incident once they were made aware of it, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. The person, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter, wasn’t certain of the timeline.
Gilleon filed a lawsuit in San Diego County Superior Court this week accusing Araiza and two other San Diego State football players of raping a then-17-year-old girl at a Halloween party at an off-campus home where Araiza had been living. A San Diego police investigation has been turned over to the district attorney’s office to determine whether to pursue charges. DA spokeswoman Tanya Sierra said Friday there was no timeline as to how long a decision will take.
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Araiza’s lawyer, Kerry Armstrong, said the player knew he could be the target of allegations since October. It was unclear if he informed the NFL of the allegations before the draft. Armstrong cited his own investigation’s findings in denying the allegations, saying: “I 100% do not believe that he ever forcibly raped this girl or had sex with her while she was passed out or drunk or anything like that.”
The NFL declined to comment except to say it was aware of the matter.
At San Diego State, one of the two remaining accused players remains on the roster but the other is not listed. The school said it did not investigate at the request of San Diego police in October.
