A woman has filed a civil suit in Utah state court claiming BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff raped and strangled her, and Provo police discouraged her from proceeding with an investigation.
The complaint stems from an alleged incident in November 2023, when Retzlaff made four starts for the Cougars. It says the woman asked Retzlaff that she didn’t want to go further than kissing and asked him to stop, but he put his hands around her neck and raped her. The filing says the woman was told by police not to file a report because they told her “sexual assault victims never get justice,” which the police department denies.
Retzlaff gained notoriety as BYU’s starter and co-captain this year, throwing for close to 3,000 yards for 20 touchdowns and leading the team to a win over ranked Colorado in the Alamo Bowl. A Jewish quarterback at a predominantly Mormon school, he became known as “BYJew,” and signed an NIL deal with Manischewitz to promote their matzo.
The plaintiff, identified as Jane Doe A.G. of Salt Lake County, filed her nine-page suit in Salt Lake County’s third district. The filing says she met Retzlaff on social media and began communicating for a few weeks, then he invited her on November 22 to come over to his apartment while he was with friends. The complaint says she and a friend arrived, went to Retzlaff’s room to play Fortnite, and met his friends and teammates.
After her friend left, the filing says, she and Retzlaff watched a movie and began kissing, but she didn’t want to go further, and tried pulling away and pushing his hand down, telling him “wait,” “no,” and “wait, stop.” Later in the evening, the filing says, Retzlaff bit her lip enough to start bleeding, forced her down, ignored her calls to stop, choked her neck, and raped her. It also says he pulled her hair and hit her head against the wall, causing “pain worse than any she felt before that.”
Doe is seeking at least $300,000 in damages for battery, assault, and intentional emotional distress.
“The university takes any allegation very seriously, following all processes and guidelines mandated by Title IX,” BYU said in a statement to Front Office Sports. “Due to federal and university privacy laws and practices for students, the university will not be able to provide additional comment.” An athletics spokesperson did not answer questions about whether Retzlaff will practice with the team this summer.
Retzlaff’s attorney Make Baute did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but told other outlets: “I have met him, and he is a nice young man. He is also factually innocent, and we look forward to proving that innocence. Jake’s focus this year will be on football. We don’t try cases in the media, we will respect the process and establish Jake’s innocence through the judicial system.”
BYU has a strict honor code for all students that includes abstaining from premarital sex. Violating the honor code leads to a university review that can result in a warning, suspension, or expulsion. Retzlaff is set to return to BYU as the starting quarterback this fall.
The complaint says the woman went to the hospital and got a rape kit a few days later. The filing says she didn’t tell Provo police her abuser’s name because she was concerned that officers would tell Retzlaff her name, a step she was not ready to make. The complaint says police asked her to name her abuser again because another person had filed a complaint against a football player. “At that point, Jane Doe A.G. shared Retzlaff’s name, and the Provo police then encouraged her not to do anything because, as they claimed, ‘sexual assault victims never get justice,’” the filing reads.
But the police department denies that account. Provo police said in a statement they have a report from Nov. 27, 2023 after a call from a woman with the initials A.G. that matches similar details from the civil case. Police said the woman “was given several opportunities to identify her abuser,” but did not, and the case was closed. The statement also said “victim advocates followed up several times to offer services” and did not hear back from the woman.
The police department denied the woman’s claim that she was told not to file charges because victims do not get justice. “We have a team of dedicated investigators and victim advocates whose sole mission is to provide justice to victims of sexual abuse. They do not send people away, warning them there is no justice for victims,” the statement reads.
A spokesperson for the police department told FOS it does not have any records connected to Retzlaff because his name was not provided as a suspect. But the department hinted in their statement that they would be willing to revisit a criminal investigation of Retzlaff: “We hope the plaintiff chooses to make a statement to further the criminal investigation if desired,” police wrote.
