Former University of Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura has settled a civil lawsuit with a woman who said he and another player sexually assaulted her when they were in high school in Honolulu and all three were juveniles.
Terms are confidential. A judge approved the settlement last week after months of negotiation and days of mediation this month, Hawaii News Now reports.
Also settling the case at the same time were the other football player, University of Wisconsin safety Kamoi Latu, and the private high school where he and de Laura played, Saint Louis School in Honolulu, Hawaii News Now says. The plaintiff said she was sexually assaulted in a parking garage stairwell at the school on Oct. 27, 2018.
De Laura and Latu were prosecuted and accepted responsibility in juvenile court for the 2018 assault case, Hawaii News Now reported. The woman filed the civil suit on Dec. 2, 2021.
De Laura announced last week that he was transferring to Texas State University.
He and Latu had previously negotiated a financial settlement in the lawsuit, but a judge rejected it on Aug. 31, 2023, ruling that the woman suing shouldn’t have accepted an amount she saw as “too low” from de Laura, Latu and their parents, now that the players’ incomes grew substantially because they are allowed to earn money as college athletes from their names, images and likenesses.
In that ruling, Lisa W. Cataldo of Hawaii Circuit Court wrote that she “cannot reach a good faith settlement determination” because: “... Plaintiff has unwavering and rock-solid confidence in her case and her likelihood of success at trial, and approximates her total damages at greater than seven figures.”
The proposed settlement agreements were filed under seal, the judge wrote, so they are not publicly available, and the dollar figures, as well as the players’ incomes, are confidential.
De Laura told reporters in July last year: “There’s nothing I would like to do but clear my name if I could, (to) defend myself from what’s being written. However, I hope you understand that I’m bound by the law to not discuss this matter at all.”
The woman is named in the court documents, but the Arizona Daily Star does not generally name alleged victims of sexual assault.
VIDEO: Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura reads a prepared statement during the Pac-12's preseason football media event in Las Vegas, Friday, July 21, 2023. Video courtesy Pac-12
Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura throws a pass in the first half of the Wildcats’ 31-24 loss to Mississippi State on Saturday in Starkville, Miss.
