South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Johnson accused of felony sexual assault
GAINESVILLE — A sworn complaint for first-degree felony sexual assault has been filed against former Florida Gators’ basketball player Keyontae Johnson, according to court records.
Johnson, 22, has not been arrested. The school’s athletic department is aware of the accusation, a spokesman said Friday.
Johnson has retained Gainesville-based attorney Ron Kozlowski, who vehemently defended his client’s innocence.
“I’m confident once the facts come out, no charges will be filed,” Kozlowski told the Orlando Sentinel. “Keyontae didn’t commit a crime, didn’t do anything wrong. That will be apparent once the facts are out.”
The Gainesville Police Department’s report was unavailable Friday evening.
Fresh Take Florida, a news service of UF’s College of Journalism and Communications, reported details of a Feb. 26 incident at an off-campus party involving Johnson and his female accuser.
Citing interviews and court records, Fresh Take Florida reported police listened in on a phone call during which Johnson acknowledged he had unprotected sex with his accuser after she had consumed alcohol.
Fresh Take Florida said police described Johnson and his accuser in the court records as friends and said they previously had consensual intercourse as recently as August. Since then, police said, Johnson had asked “multiple times” to have sex again, but his accuser declined and “made it clear to the DEF that she did not want to have sexual intercourse any more,” the report said.
GPD spoke to two witnesses describing the 19-year-old woman as “heavily intoxicated.” Police eventually filed a sworn complaint March 16 against Johnson in Alachua County Circuit Court.
Fresh Take Florida said it contacted Johnson on Friday about the sworn complaint. He reportedly responded, “What?” said he needed to contact others and hung up his phone.
The case has been assigned to Brooke King of the State Attorney’s Office of the Eight Judicial Circuit.
Johnson is on track to graduate this spring, bringing an end to four years in Gainesville featuring athletic success and personal struggle. The Norfolk, Virginia, native tragically collapsed on the court Dec. 12, 2020, to ultimately end his college career because of health concerns.
Doctors have struggled to determine the cause of the harrowing incident. Johnson was hospitalized for eight days and placed in a medically induced coma.
The former All-SEC performer has served as a quasi-assistant coach and inspiration to his teammates the past two seasons. Johnson was honored March 5 on Senior Day with a start against Kentucky. The two sides agreed to allow him to catch the tip-off and call timeout to allow Johnson to return to the bench.
“To me, it’s just shame a young man who has been through so much the past two years now has to deal with this,” Kozlowski said.