College of Utah diver on the lam after being charged with rape: report
A College of Utah student-athlete fled the nation after he was accused of raping a school pupil in her dorm room at first of the college yr, prosecutors stated.
Benjamin Smyth, of Canada, is needed on rape, forcible sodomy and forcible sexual abuse costs, Salt Lake County District paperwork obtained by Gephardt Daily show.
The 19-year-old Division I scholarship diver met his alleged sufferer in December 2022 whereas she was studying a e-book within the widespread space of her dorm constructing.
Smyth — who approached the lady with a gaggle of males he was hanging out with — exchanged contact info together with her.
Later that evening, Smyth allegedly messaged her asking whether or not her roommates had been dwelling.
After studying that her dorm room was empty, Smyth visited and made repeated efforts to interact in sexual actions, all of which she rejected, the paperwork declare.
The diver then allegedly raped her after she stated “she didn’t need to have intercourse,” based on police.
Smyth allegedly pushed “her shoulders to put her down on the ground” and ignored her pleas of “no” and cried that she “didn’t need to do this,” based on the fees.
The lady didn’t report the horrifying crime till February, at which era Smyth is accused of initially denying figuring out the sufferer. He later retracted his lie and claimed the 2 “had intercourse,” the warrant stated.
A subsequent investigation revealed Smyth stored a listing of girls he slept with.
The college stated he was instantly kicked off the College of Utah Swimming and Diving workforce — simply two weeks earlier than the workforce’s Division I championship meet.
When a detective arrived at Smyth’s dorm room to serve a restraining order, his roommate stated that the diver had packed his baggage and moved out.
A non-public investigator informed cops {the teenager} had escaped to his native Vancouver.
“On February 16 we had been made conscious of a critical allegation involving a member of our males’s swimming and diving program,” the college told FOX Television Stations in an announcement.
“Upon being notified by the College’s Workplace of Equal Alternative (OEO) of a pending investigation, Ben Smyth was instantly suspended on Feb. 20 from all workforce actions. We take issues of this kind very significantly, and have continued to watch the scenario.
The college has since scrubbed Smyth’s athletic profile from its athletics website, although an present account reveals that he competed in a meet simply three days earlier than his alleged sufferer reported the assault.