Parents Of Punter Matt Araiza Say ‘War Waged On Our Son’, ‘Tried And Convicted In The Media’
On Thursday, a breaking report by the Los Angeles Times revealed that a lawsuit was filed against former San Diego State University Matt Araiza and two former SDSU teammates by an unnamed minor. Days later he was released by the Buffalo Bills.
BILLS PUNTER MATT ARAIZA, TWO SDSU PLAYERS ACCUSED OF ‘GANG-RAPE’ IN LAWSUIT
KUSI Sports' Brandon Stone reported that Araiza's parents are defending the 22-year-old former Bills punter against the gang-rape allegations, stating that their son is part of a cancelation and extortion attempt by the now 18-year-old and her attorney.
The statement reads:
"The rule of law is innocent until proven guilty. That is not our experience. There has been war waged on our son. He has been tried and convicted in the media based on information released solely from the alleged victim and her attorney, much of it through social media. People have taken his information as factual, when it is not.
"We do not wish this experience on anyone, but question why our son is the only one receiving this kind of treatment by social media and national news media. The vitriol has been on him alone.
"He has been extorted, discriminated against, harassed and the subject of multiple and continuous threats of violence and death. He has been released from his job and our entire family continues to receive horrific threats of violence and death. We have all been canceled. Every member of our family.
"Salacious rumors grew as fact. There are multiple witness reports to deny the claims that are made against him. The legal system is designed to find the facts and make decisions. They should be allowed to do that."
BILLS RECEIVE CRITICISM FOR DELAYED RELEASE OF PUNTER MATT ARAIZA, SUBJECT OF ‘GANG-RAPE’ LAWSUIT
The lawsuit went public on Thursday and the Buffalo Bills, who drafted the 'Punt God' in the sixth round of this year's draft, released him two days later.
Araiza had not been seen at practice on Saturday, and did not play in the Bills preseason game against the Carolina Panthers on Friday.
BUFFALO BILLS RELEASE ‘PUNT GOD’ MATT ARAIZA AFTER GANG-RAPE LAWSUIT
As relayed by OutKick's Ian Miller, the lawsuit recounted some serious, disturbing assertions of conduct towards the alleged victim:
"The teen told Araiza she was a high school student and, even though he could see she was highly intoxicated, he took her outside and told her to perform oral sex, then had sex with her.
"Then Araiza took her to a bedroom where Leonard, Ewaliko and at least one other man were, the complaint alleged, and threw her down on the bed face first. The lawsuit said she was raped for an hour and a half until the party was shut down."
Stay tuned with OutKick as the story develops.
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