Former Buffalo Bills punter Matt Araiza will not face criminal charges … despite being accused of participating in the gang rape of a minor at a party in 2021.
The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office announced the declination of charges on Wednesday … saying in a statement, “Ultimately, prosecutors determined it is clear the evidence does not support the filing of criminal charges.”
They added, “There is no path to a potential criminal conviction.”
As we reported, Araiza was sued back in August, after a woman identified only as Jane Doe said the NFL player and two other men gang raped her at an Oct. 17, 2021 party at Araiza’s San Diego home.
Doe, who said she was only 17 years old at the time, claimed in the suit that a short time after she met Araiza at the Halloween-themed bash … the former San Diego State punter handed her a drink that she later believed contained alcohol and “other intoxicating substances.”
In the suit, she alleged the two then engaged in sexual acts outside of the home … before he led her to a room in the house where he and two of his SDSU teammates, Nowlin “Pa’a” Ewaliko and Zavier Leonard, sexually abused her for over an hour.
Doe claimed once the party was shut down, she “stumbled out of the room bloody and crying.” She sued Araiza, Ewaliko and Leonard for unspecified damages.
Her attorney, Dan Gilleon, said in a statement to The Athletic that he was “not surprised” by Wednesday’s news.
The man who now officially has won the Buffalo Bills’ punter job, “Punt God” Matt Araiza: pic.twitter.com/juAe047iHp
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 23, 2022
@AdamSchefter
“The police rarely pay much attention to cases where the victim is intoxicated,” he said. “Here, the police made it clear in January 2022 that they weren’t interested in the case. They made that clear by ghosting my client and keeping her in the dark. It was only the media attention that caused the police to commence a dog and pony show long enough for them to say they conducted a thorough investigation.”
Araiza, nicknamed the “Punt God,” initially denied the allegations after the suit was filed … but was still let go by the Bills days later. He’s remained a free agent.