UM football player and redshirt freshman Jeffrey Brown was charged with sexual battery Wednesday.
Brown, who plays defensive lineman for the team, surrendered to Coral Gables police Wednesday afternoon. Brown, 19, originally from Evanston, Ill., allegedly attacked a woman at 4 a.m. Saturday at a dorm located on 5100 block of Ponce De Leon Boulevard.
The arrest affidavit stated that the woman returned to her dorm drunk and sickly. According to the affidavit, Brown entered the woman’s room “under pretense he was concerned for her well-being.”
The woman told police that while she lay in bed and Brown entered her room, Brown raped her. Police stated she couldn’t defend herself because, in addition to her intoxicated state, Brown is 6-feet-3-inches tall and weighs 295 pounds.
Police also said that Brown first denied having sex with the woman. According to the affidavit, Brown later admitted to having sex with the victim. After his surrender at Coral Gables Police Department, Brown was arrested and transported to Miami-Dade County Jail. Brown’s release for bail is set at $15,000.
According to The Miami Herald, a statement released by Brown’s lawyers stated “their client didn’t engage in any criminal conduct that night and did not break any UM rules.”
“The University of Miami has become aware of the serious charges made against a student-athlete, and he has been suspended indefinitely from the football program,” UM said in a statement Wednesday afternoon, according to the Herald.
The university has not commented on Brown’s status as a student.
Brown is the second UM football player to be arrested in the last two months. On March 18, senior and starting lineback Ramon Buchanan was charged with violently resisting arrest from a police officer at a Coconut Grove bar. Buchanan entered a pretrial diversion program in April. Once he completes the program, his charges may be dropped.
Stephanie Parra may be contacted at sparra@themiamihurricane.com.