Florida sophomore WR Antonio Callaway’s indefinite suspension is reportedly related to an accusation of sexual assault.
ESPN’s Paula Lavigne and Mark Schlabach report that a woman who accused Callaway and former Florida QB Treon Harris of sexually assaulting her in December is boycotting a Title IX hearing on the matter because Florida appointed a football booster to adjudicate it.
Accuser to boycott Title IX hearing after Florida gets athletic department booster, former UF athlete to handle case https://t.co/y5VOxFm2uk
— Paula Lavigne (@pinepaula) August 5, 2016
The alleged assault happened in early December. The woman reported the incident to the university but did not report it to police. Callaway and Harris were suspended indefinitely in January for violating the student code of conduct. During that time they were not allowed on campus and took classes online.
Antonio Callaway’s law firm, Johnson & Osteryoung, stated in a press release that “we consider his (accuser’s attorney John Clune) actions inappropriate and an attempt at intimidation.” The release continued, “we are not going to besmirch his client in the press. The totality of the investigation which is over one-thousand (1,000) pages will do that for us.”
Callaway has not been reinstated to play in games, but he was allowed back on campus in June for summer classes and participated in the team’s first fall practices this week.
Janine Sikes, the university’s assistant vice president for media relations and public affairs, issued a statement Thursday afternoon saying that Schickel is qualified to preside over the hearing.
“Any hearing officer and all committee members are trained and vetted for their impartiality,” Sikes’ statement said. “A hearing officer or committee member would not be disqualified or lack objectivity simply because he or she had been a student athlete decades earlier or purchases athletic tickets as more than 90,000 people do each year.”
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