Rutgers student suing university and two former football players for alleged sexual assault

A female student is suing Rutgers former defensive end Marques Ford and former punter John Bowers for allegedly sexually assaulting her last November. The complaint was filed last week in Middlesex County, stating that the two former players sexually assaulted her at an on-campus apartment on November 14, 2015.

The at-the-time freshman claimed that the two players “assaulted her in November of 2015 when she became too intoxicated and too incapacitated to give consent,” according to the Asbury Park Press. 

The female student reported that both Bowers and Ford both seemed intoxicated. “After declining an offer to drink, the student woke up the following day with a swollen nose and lips, the smell of vomit on her hair, and abrasions on her elbows and knees,” the article noted.

The complaint stated that someone told the female student that “she had consumed eight shots of tequila and engaged in sex with both players.”

Following her allegations, the players were suspended from the football team.

NJ Advance Media reported, Bowers was dating the victim at the time and sent messages after the alleged assault apologizing to her while blaming Ford for getting them both intoxicated.

“I’m so so sorry sorry this happened. I never will put you in a situation like that again and right now I do hate myself for it I don’t even know what to do with myself. I’m so angry and upset at myself I don’t know what to do,” Bowers wrote, according to the lawsuit.”

The lawsuit didn’t specify whether they were texts, emails, or any other type of messaging.

Both players have since left Rutgers as Ford transferred out after the 2015 season and recently committed to East Carolina. Bowers now attends Rhode Island.

But it’s not only the players finding themselves in deep water now, as the lawsuit also goes after Rutgers University as a whole accusing it of creating a “sexually hostile educational environment” and encouraging the football players to change their stories about the alleged attack.

Bowers told football officials about the alleged assault sometime around November 18, 2015. Bowers and Ford were suspended the next day. After a Rutgers investigation, it was concluded in May that there was enough evidence for the school to charge Bowers and Ford with “sexual assault or non-consensual sexual contact” in violation of the student code of conduct, the lawsuit said.

It sounds like a bold accusation, but Ford, who comes from Riverview, Florida, said his decision to leave Rutgers was attributed to the firing of former head coach Kyle Flood and he even told NJ Advance Media that he didn’t feel good about being far away from home.

This comes after a disastrous first season in the Big Ten for Rutgers, where they saw a number of players linked to several crimes, including connections to home invasions.