Photo: Eric Francis/ Getty

Yesterday, injured Creighton star Maurice Watson turned himself in to Omaha police after they issued a warrant for his arrest on suspicion of first-degree sexual assault. Watson attended a court hearing today in Omaha on the charge, and a Douglas County judge set his bond at $750,000. He’ll need to post $75,000 to be released from jail before his trial.


Watson’s defense lawyers have denied all the charges against him, which were finally discussed in detail today in court. A 19-year-old Creighton student reportedly filed a police report the morning of Feb. 4, telling police that Watson sexually assaulted her in a bathroom earlier that day. On Monday, Deputy Douglas County Attorney Beth Beninato said prosectors believe the alleged assault happened after a different woman turned down Watson’s sexual advances. From the Omaha World-Herald:

Watson sat next to another woman on a couch in the apartment. He grabbed her hand and moved it toward his crotch. He asked if she wanted to touch his penis. That woman walked away. At that point, Watson turned his attention to the 19-year-old woman. He said he wanted to talk to her. He then led her into a bathroom, shutting the door behind him and standing in front of the door. He pressed the woman up against a sink, lowered his pants and forced her to perform oral sex on him. He then turned her around, pushed her against a wall, pulled down her pants and raped her.


Beninato cited medical examiners who said they found evidence of nonconsensual sex.

The 19-year-old later went to the Nebraska Medical Center, where medical staff found a cut to her vagina consistent with nonconsensual sex, Beninato said. Beninato said doctors found a “massive amount” of blood as they examined her.

Watson’s attorney Stu Dornan denied the allegations, saying witnesses at the apartment told private investigators that the woman was not “disheveled or complaining of injury,” the World-Herald reported. Douglas County judge John Huber denied Watson’s request that he be allowed to return to Philadelphia to continue rehabbing from ACL surgery.

Watson tore his ACL in January, and his suspension was announced last week shortly before news of the allegations broke. According to the Associated Press, Watson has a preliminary hearing set for March 27.


[Omaha World-Herald]