Dunn testifies sex was consensual at rape trial

A former Ohio State University football player accused of rape testified Thursday that he routinely had casual sex with a woman he met on a dating app who made the accusations. He said the acts were always consensual.

“I don’t know if she’s that mad that I didn’t give her what she wanted,” said Bri’onte Dunn, 25, who faces two counts of rape stemming from a Aug. 20, 2017, incident involving the woman. Dunn, who played for the Buckeyes from 2012 to 2015 as a backup running back before he was dismissed from the team after violating team rules, said the woman drank a lot and wanted to be married to a football player. She told him she wanted to have his baby, he told the court.

“I kind of told her I didn’t like that. I told her I didn’t think it was going to work,” Dunn said.

Dunn could face up to 22 years in prison. He was previously facing an additional count of rape, but that count was dismissed at the prosecution’s request. A jury of nine men and five women heard the case. They will begin deliberating his fate Friday morning.

Dunn testified his life has been “very terrible” since the charges were filed.

Amanda Fashano, a forensic scientist at the Columbus Division of Police crime lab, told the court that a positive match for Dunn’s DNA was not found in the woman’s vaginal area. However, his DNA was found externally on the woman’s body just outside the vagina and on the woman’s neck.

Joe Landusky, Dunn’s attorney, asked Fashano if there was any way to tell if force was used based on the forensic evidence.

“We cannot say that,” she told the court.

The pair had a relationship that was sexual in nature after meeting on Bumble, a dating app, according to court testimony. They saw each other for a few weeks before the incident happened. Authorities say Dunn called the victim and asked for a ride home at 4:15 a.m. She drove him to her residence just north of campus and went to bed. She said she expected him to call an Uber. Instead, she said Dunn got into bed with her and groped her. She told him to stop. Instead, he held her down and forced her to have sex, according to police reports.

During closing arguments, Landusky said, “It’s her word against his. ... False claims are made all the time in this country.”

Jennifer Rausch, an assistant Franklin County prosecutor, said women in rape cases are looked at with a high level of scrutiny. They are physically poked, prodded and scraped during medical exams. Their narratives are picked apart and questioned.

“We are really critical of women in these cases,” Rausch said.