Ex-basketball player charged with rape at Duquesne dorm
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A 19-year-old former Duquesne University basketball player has been charged with rape after a woman said he assaulted her in his dormitory room.
Nick Washington, of San Juan, Puerto Rico, also is charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault and unlawful restraint.
Mr. Washington was removed from the university’s basketball team Sept. 2, a day after the alleged assault, university spokeswoman Bridget Fare said Monday.
A woman told Pittsburgh police that she met Mr. Washington at a party Sept. 1 and he “showed interest in her,” according to a criminal complaint.
She recognized him as a member of the university’s basketball team. The woman and her friend left the party with Mr. Washington and one of his friends and went back to Duquesne’s campus. The woman said she then became separated from her friend inside a dorm.
The woman’s cell phone battery was dying, so she asked Mr. Washington if he had a charger. He led her to his room and she
plugged her phone in, she said.
Mr. Washington then forced her to perform sex acts before holding her down and raping her, according to the criminal complaint. The woman said no and told Mr. Washington to stop, but he refused, she said.
The assault ended abruptly when the woman received a text from her friend, the woman said.
Mr. Washington’s attorney, Casey White, said his client “adamantly denies any and all wrongdoing.”
“Nick Washington did not rape anyone or commit any of the crimes that are alleged to have occurred,” Mr. White said.
Any sexual encounter between the pair was consensual, he said. People at the party that night witnessed Mr. Washington and the woman having consensual physical contact with each other throughout the night, he said.
Later, before the woman left the dorm room, the two exchanged contact information on Snapchat, Mr. White said. He could not say whether they stayed in touch in the weeks following the incident.
Mr. Washington was arrested Monday on campus and is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing in City Court on Nov. 9.
Duquesne basketball coach Keith Dambrot declined to comment, and athletic director Dave Harper declined to comment.
“Duquesne University is dedicated to providing an educational environment that supports our Catholic, Spiritan mission and values,” Ms. Fare said in a statement. “This includes a profound respect for the dignity of each person, and a commitment to preserve and protect the physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of all members of the campus community. Verbal, nonverbal or physical sexual misconduct ... will not be tolerated.”
The university reported two on-campus rapes in 2015 and none in 2014 and 2013, according to the most recent data available from the U.S. Department of Education. The school has about 9,400 students.