Ex-49er now accused of rape in civil suit

DA rejected criminal case for insufficient evidence

SAN JOSE >> Jarryd Hayne, the Australian rugbyleague player who spent 2015 with the 49ers, has been accused of rape in a civil lawsuit filed Tuesday in Santa Clara County.

The suit alleges Hayne engaged in nonconsensual sexual intercourse with a “Ms. V” in December 2015, according to attorney John Clune

Hayne’s long-time representative Wayne Beavis said he was unaware of the claims when contacted by reporters with The Daily Telegraph in Australia, where Hayne lives.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office reviewed the criminal case and rejected it for insufficient evidence on Oct. 25, 2016, but declined to elaborate further.

Typically, sexual assaults that are reported weeks or months after they allegedly occurred can be difficult to prosecute. Any physical evidence, for instance, is usually limited or nonexistent by the time the investigation begins.

The lawsuit says that Ms. V was a virgin at the time and was afraid to come forward for several months, and eventually sought medical treatment for continued vaginal pain in April 2016. The hospital concluded that Ms. V had been sexually assaulted and contacted San Jose police as required by law, said Micha Star Liberty, another attorney for the victim.

Ms. V declined to talk with police at the time but did so the following month, Liberty said.

Hayne and Ms. V knew each other through some mutual acquaintances, but did not otherwise have an established relationship, Liberty said. On the night of the alleged rape, Ms. V and her friends met Hayne and his friends at a bar for after-dinner drinks. Liberty said Ms. V became intoxicated and Hayne took her back to his apartment in San Jose.

Ms. V awoke the next morning in a large pool of blood, Liberty said. Hayne was gone.

“The victim was a young impressionable woman out with friends in a location and environment she thought she could trust only to find that Mr. Hayne used her level of intoxication and his physical stature to deprive her of the ability to make a personal decision about whether or not she wanted to have sex,” Liberty said. “As a result, she suffered greatly emotionally and physically.”

The District Attorney’s Office, according to the suit, said that there was not enough evidence to prove the crime of rape beyond a reasonable doubt. The lawsuit includes claims of sexual battery, gender violence, infliction of emotional distress and negligence.

When asked why the lawsuit wasn’t filed soon after the district attorney’s decision, Liberty said: “Having represented sexual assault victims for over 17 years, what we know is that the process of mustering the strength and courage to come forward and speak out takes time.”

The 29-year-old Hayne left a high-profile career in Australia to play football for the first time with the 49ers, and he became a summer sensation in making their 2015 roster as a punt returner and running back. He appeared in their first six games, got released on Halloween, returned for their final two games and ultimately announced his retirement from the NFL on May 15, 2016.

Hayne then tried out with the Fiji Rugby Sevens team in hopes of participating in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He did not make that team, and he returned to his native Australia and resumed his rugby-league career, spending the past two years in Queensland before recently re-signing with his native Sydney club.

In a press release issued by the 49ers upon retiring, Hayne said, “I am retiring from the NFL because the Fiji Rugby Sevens team reached out to me about the opportunity to join the team for the upcoming Olympics, and I simply could no pass that chance up. The Olympics has been something I have admired since I was a little boy, and it is an opportunity I feel very similar to me joining the NFL.”

Hayne competed last month for Fiji in the Rugby League World Cup and is back in Sydney with his original rugby-league team, Parramatta Eels.