A woman from Utah alleges that BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff raped, strangled and bit her during an incident in November 2023, and that police were uncooperative.
A lawsuit filed Wednesday in Utah state court alleges that Provo police encouraged the alleged victim not to do anything, as they claimed, “sexual assault victims never get justice.”
Prove police disputed that statement in a press release.
The woman is identified as Jane Doe A.G. in the lawsuit, as detailed by ESPN.
“A year and half after the rape and strangulation, Jane Doe A.G. continues to experience extreme post-traumatic stress disorder and other trauma symptoms as she works to process what happened and move on,” the lawsuit states.
Retzlaff’s attorney, Mark Baute, claimed his client is “factually innocent” in a statement.
“We look forward to proving that innocence,” Baute said. “Jake’s focus this year will be on football. We don’t try cases in the media, we will respect the process and establish Jake’s innocence through the judicial system.”
It’s detailed in the lawsuit that the woman and the rising senior quarterback connected on social media in October 2023 and exchanged messages before Retzlaff invited the woman to his home on or near Nov. 22.
The woman arrived with a friend, who eventually left, and the two then began watching a movie together before things allegedly started to escalate.
“At some point they began to kiss, but Jane Doe A.G. did not want to do anything more,” the lawsuit states. “Retzlaff began escalating the situation … and Jane Doe A.G. tried to de-escalate the situation and attempted to slow things down, trying to pull away, and saying ‘wait.’ She did not want to do anything sexual with him.”
The woman pleaded “no” and “wait, stop” with Retzlaff, according to the lawsuit, and in an attempt to leave, Retzlaff allegedly put his hands around the woman’s neck and proceeded to rape her.
“It hurt so bad and caused so much pain that Jane Doe A.G. passed out,” the lawsuit states. “Jane Doe A.G. remembers tears rolling down her face as she fought to breathe.”
The woman allegedly utilized a rape kit at a hospital, where pictures were taken of her injuries.
Upon initially connecting with Provo police, she did not share Retzlaff’s name.
It wasn’t until later when officials asked for the name, as someone else filed a complaint against a football player, the lawsuit says.
“At that point Jane Doe A.G. shared Retzlaff’s name, and the Provo police then encouraged her not to do anything because, as they claimed, ‘sexual assault victims never get justice,” the lawsuit claims.
The Provo Police Department released a statement Wednesday denying that it discouraged the alleged victim from proceeding.
“From everything we have reviewed, this is not true,” the statement says. “We have a team of dedicated investigators and victim advocates whose sole mission is to provide justice to victims of sexual abuse. They do not send people away, warning them there is no justice for victims.”
The statement from the police department said the lawsuit’s allegations provide a “similar account” to a Nov. 27, 2023 call it received from a woman who went by the initials A.G., which allowed the department to “identify a possible correlating case report.”
Provo police said the woman who phoned them on Nov. 27 was “given several opportunities to identify her abuser” but she did not do so, leading to the the case being closed.
The department deemed there was “no actionable investigative leads” after reviewing “collected evidence.”
“Our victim advocates followed up several times to offer services but received no response,” the statement says. “Because the civil suit does not identify the victim, we cannot be certain our police report is the same incident referenced by the plaintiff, but it does seem likely given the information we have.”
BYU acknowledged it’s aware of the lawsuit in a statement Wednesday.
“The university takes any allegation very seriously, following all processes and guidelines mandated by Title IX,” the school said. “Due to federal and university privacy laws and practices for students, the university will not be able to provide additional comment.”
Retzlaff took over as BYU’s starting quarterback in 2024 after making four starts in the previous season, during which the alleged incident took place.
Across 13 games, he threw 2,947 yards for 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
He arrived at BYU from Riverside City College in Southern California.