The University of Nebraska expelled two former football players after a school investigator last year found them responsible for violating the school’s sexual misconduct policy, according to a document obtained by ESPN.
In a letter obtained by ESPN, the university conduct board said the expulsion of two unnamed respondents was effective April 3. A university spokeswoman confirmed Monday that the players involved were redshirt freshmen Katerian LeGrone and Andre Hunt.
The March 25 letter also states that the board “considered the seriousness of this incident and modified the previously proposed sanction.” The school’s investigator had previously recommended a 2 ½-year suspension when she issued her finding in December. Expulsion means the two men are not allowed on campus and are permanently terminated as students, according to the letter.
The university investigation found evidence to support that Hunt touched and digitally penetrated a female student and made her have oral sex without her consent, and that both men had sex with her without her consent, according to the report. The report states that the woman provided text messages with others, sent immediately following the actions, in which she alleged that she had been raped.
LeGrone and Hunt also have been charged with first-degree sexual assault after the woman reported the alleged Aug. 25 assault to the Lincoln Police Department. Both men were suspended indefinitely from the football team on Aug. 26, and as of December were no longer on the roster. Both men had entered the NCAA transfer portal, signaling their desire to transfer and allowing for other programs to contact them.
Hunt’s attorney, Carlos Monzon, said Monday that Hunt was “already at a different university and he’s playing,” but he would not say where. Hunt did not respond to a social media message asking about his status, and an online search did not find Hunt on any university’s roster. As of Monday, Hunt was still listed as active in the NCAA transfer portal, which would typically indicate he has not been picked up by a school.
LeGrone is still listed as available in the portal and his attorneys, Mallory Hughes and John S. Berry, said he has been living with family, working out and “exploring his options.”
Attorneys for both men previously have said their clients will plead not guilty. Hunt has a hearing scheduled for this month and LeGrone has one scheduled for June, although it’s uncertain if those dates will change due to delays caused by the coronavirus.
LeGrone’s attorneys said Monday that the school’s decision should have no bearing on what happens in the criminal case, saying that such school investigations fall short, deny due process and often don’t include access to all available evidence.
Two prosecutors in Lancaster County, Nebraska, did not immediately respond Monday to an email.
Findings of sexual misconduct at Nebraska, and at many universities, are based on a preponderance of evidence, meaning the weight of the evidence favors one side over the other. It is a lower burden of proof than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” needed to convict someone in a criminal case.
Hunt and LeGrone have been named in several additional police reports of alleged sex offenses filed with Lincoln police since news of the university’s findings in the August case became public, according to records obtained by ESPN and a source familiar with those records. The alleged offenses occurred between August 2018 and April 2019. Charges have not been filed in any of them, according to the records.
When asked about any other possible Title IX investigations involving Hunt and LeGrone, the Nebraska spokeswoman said there were no further actions pending against them.
