The University of Arizona said Friday quarterback Jayden de Laura's status with the school "remains unchanged," after a court filing this week said he pleaded guilty in juvenile court to a 2018 sexual-assault charge in Hawaii.
The UA Athletics Department said in a statement released Friday afternoon that it found out last fall that a civil complaint had been filed against de Laura by a plaintiff who said de Laura sexually assaulted her while both were in high school. The civil complaint was filed on Dec 2, 2021, about a month before de Laura transferred from Washington State to Arizona.
The statement reads in full: โIn the fall of 2022 after a civil complaint was filed against football student-athlete Jayden de Laura, the University of Arizona first became aware of a 2018 incident involving de Laura which occurred while he was in high school in Hawaii. After reviewing the matter, the determination was made to allow de Laura to continue as a student-athlete and his status remains unchanged.โ
The court filing this week in Hawaii said de Laura has settled the lawsuit with the plaintiff, who said he and another high school player at the time sexually assaulted her when she was "approximately 17 years old." The court filing said de Laura pleaded guilty to a juvenile court charge of second-degree sexual assault in the case.ย
The UA's stance is similar to the University of Wisconsin's, as stated Thursday, regarding safety Kamoโi Latu, who also settled the case stemming from when he and de Laura were star football players at St. Louis High School in Honolulu.
De Laura and Latu reached a settlement and paid the plaintiff, court records revealed this week, whose lawsuit said they raped her after a high school football game in Honolulu on Oct. 27, 2018, when she was about 17 years old. She was named in the court documents. The Arizona Daily Star does not generally name alleged victims of sexual assault.ย ย
According to the lawsuit, Latu as well as de Laura pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault in the case. Documentation of those charges is unavailable because all parties were minors and the case ran through juvenile court where the records are closed to the public. An attorney for de Laura has not responded to requests for comment.ย ย
All parties involved โengaged in a mediations processโ in December 2022 and settlements by de Laura and Latuโs families were reached for undisclosed amounts, according to the court documents filed Tuesday. The case was filed in Hawaii Circuit Court, which handles civil cases seeking more than $40,000.
The Star will update this breaking news story as it develops.ย
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