Caught on Cell Phone: Minnesota Football Player Charged In Sex Assault

July 17, 2007 — -- A University of Minnesota football player was charged this week with criminal sexual conduct for allegedly having sex with an unconscious woman at a party, and police say part of the incident was caught on a cell phone camera.

Dominic Lee Jones, a 20-year-old cornerback for the University of Minnesota Gophers, faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Tuesday, Hennepin County District Court Judge Peter Cahill set bail at $25,000. Jones' attorney said his client would plead not guilty.

Prosecutors said a cell phone video shows Jones sexually assaulting an 18-year-old student who was so drunk that she'd fallen unconscious at a party in April. According to the criminal complaint, after he was finished having sex with the woman, Jones then asked a friend if he wanted "a hit."

"It was pretty disgusting," said Hennepin County attorney Michael Freeman.

Other Charges Pending

Three other football players who attended the party were arrested and questioned in April in connection with the assault. They were released without being charged, but Freeman said they are still considered suspects in the case. All four players have been suspended from the football team.

The alleged assault took place at a party at the University Village apartment of several football players.

Robert McField, a former Minnesota football player, invited the victim to a party at his house. McField, identified in court records as R.M., then allegedly challenged the victim to a drinking contest.

She drank eight shots of vodka that night, court papers say. Her blood alcohol level was estimated by Dr. Stephen Smith — identified in court records as an expert on alcohol-facilitated sexual assault — at .30, which, according to court records, would have rendered her unconscious.

The complaint said three other players, identified as A.D., E.J. and K.M., all took turns having sex with the woman before she passed out, but while she was still very drunk. Alex Daniels, E.J. Jones and Keith Massey were arrested and questioned in April in connection with the alleged assault but have not been charged.

Attorneys for the three players said their clients had not broken the law and said they did not expect their clients to be charged. Freeman said the three remain suspects in the case.

After the victim passed out, Jones took her to a bedroom and had sex with her while Daniels filmed part of the interaction with a cell phone, according to court documents.

The video was deleted from the cell phone, but forensics experts were able to recover it later, Freeman said.

Court papers said the video showed Jones engaging in the end of a sex act with the victim, who appeared unresponsive. DNA evidence on the victim's clothes matched Jones', according to the complaint.

The video was a boon to the investigation. "Sexual assault cases are always difficult, because you have limited number of witnesses," Freeman said. "If she's passed out, she can't say what happened."

McField pleaded guilty in March to armed robbery charges in Missouri, where he's currently in prison. He was not suspended from the university until a few days after the party where the alleged assault took place.

"Unfortunately, that took us several days, and in that period of time, this incident occurred, which is very tragic," said Mark Rotenberg, the university's general counsel.

Rotenberg said the judge in McField's case allowed him to finish the school semester before he started his prison term.

Jones' attorney, Earl Gray, declined to comment Tuesday morning, saying he was not yet familiar with the facts of the case.

At the afternoon bail hearing, Gray said his client would go to trial, according to local news reports.

"It's been a difficult time for him and his family," Gray said at the hearing. "But I believe it's a defensible case."

Rotenberg said Jones' status at the university was unclear. "We are currenty evaluating his status as a permanent member of the football team, and as a university student in light of the evidence that is developing."

Jeff DeGree, the lawyer for E.J. Jones, said he did not expect his client to be charged.

"He didn't do anything criminal," DeGree said, adding that Jones had gone to sleep before the alleged assault took place.

Daniels' attorney, Mike Colich, said the criminal complaint released Monday was the first time he had heard of the allegation that his client filmed the cell phone video. When asked if Daniels denied the charge, Colich declined to comment.

He denied that Daniels had done anything criminal, and said he did not think any of the players other than Jones would be charged.

"We knew that, eventually, there would not be charges" against his client, he said.