‘Help me,’ athlete texts during alleged sexual assault

San Jose State student who accuses water polo player of attack says university did little to keep her informed of progress

One of the two women who told police that a San Jose State water polo player sexually assaulted her at an off-campus party came forward Thursday to describe a harrowing ordeal of being trapped inside a pitchblack bedroom, thrown down and attacked until she was able to escape.

She said in an interview that twice, while the water polo player shoved her face onto the mattress, she texted the first people that popped up on her phone: “Help me,” she wrote, at 11:33 and again at 11:34 on the night of Sept. 3.

The woman, also a studentathlete, said she blamed herself

— until two weeks later, when she learned a studentathlete from another team, whom she had seen crying that night, reported a strikingly similar story.

“Everything he did to me, he did the exact same thing to her,” she said.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office is reviewing the case and as of Thursday had not made a decision about whether to file charges. Authorities believe the water polo player, a freshman international student, has left the country.

“The whole situation,” she said, “it’s going to affect me the rest of my life.”

The woman’s description adds a chilling account to allegations that have shaken the San Jose State campus and raised new questions about the university’s response to the case. It also comes amid a rising level of outrage over campus sexual assaults, just months after a victim’s powerful statement read at the sentencing of former Stanford swimmer Brock Turner generated letters of support for the woman from across the globe.

This news organization does not name sexual assault victims unless they wish to have their names published. It also is not naming the accused San Jose State water polo player, as he has not been formally identified or charged with a crime. He has not responded to requests for comment.

The alleged attack happened soon after the start of the fall semester at an off-campus party over La- bor Day weekend — hours after the water polo team defeated Santa Clara University in its first competition of the season.

The woman said the water polo player — whom she had just met — offered to get her a drink, but she told him she wasn’t drinking because she was there to look after her teammates. While others danced in the garage, she said, he lured her inside the house. Once inside, she said she spotted a young man passed out on a bed and tried to help, shaking him and asking if he was OK, while the water polo player stood in the doorway.

Then, she said, the player locked the door behind him. He ordered her to get down on the floor, she said, and when she refused, he threw her down and sexually assaulted her for “what seemed like forever” — she doesn’t know how long — until she was able to get free and sprint out of the room.

“He kept forcing me to do stuff, over and over again,” she said. “I kept telling him, ‘I have no idea who you are. I’m not going to do this to you.’ ”

One of the friends she texted — a roommate and teammate — was at the party, but her phone was playing music and she said she didn’t see the message.

“When I looked at her, I knew something had gone really wrong,” the friend said Thursday in an interview.

The friend brought her to a quiet place to find out what had happened. “She was crying. She could hardly get out her words,” said her friend, who tried to help her calm down so they could leave the party without drawing unwanted attention.

The woman went to the campus police the next morning to report what happened and underwent a forensic examination at the hospital later that day. But for the next week, she said, a fear of running into her assailant on campus kept her from attending class. She said she was never told that the campus had given him a no-contact and noretaliation order, or that he was banned from campus on Sept. 22.

Most of what she has learned about the status of her case, she said, has been in news stories published this week. She also questioned why the campus did not put out a crime alert. SJSU President Mary Papazian sent out a message Wednesday acknowledging concerns about the decisions and said the campus would review its process on issuing alerts.

Typically the anti-discrimination office keeps victims apprised of updates in a case, coordinates needed academic accommodations and periodically checks in with victims about their well-being. All those steps appear to have been taken in this case, said Natalie Brouwer Potts, San Jose State’s new Title IX coordinator.

However, when Brouwer Potts was told that the victim said she had learned much of the information in news articles this week, she said, “We need to do better then, and we will.”

“I feel for her,” Brouwer Potts said, “that she is feeling disconnected and in the dark.”