BYU QB Jake Retzlaff accused of sexual assault in civil suit

BYU star quarterback Jake Retzlaff has been accused of sexually assaulting a Salt Lake County woman in 2023, according to a new civil lawsuit filed Wednesday, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

The woman, identified in legal documents as “Jane Doe A.G.,” alleges Retzlaff assaulted her in November 2023 inside his home after they’d connected over social media and had been messaging for a month, per the Tribune. She is suing Retzlaff in civil court for alleged assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and is asking the court for punitive damages from him, the Tribune reported.

Retzlaff, 22, has not been criminally charged as of Wednesday, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. Though the victim reveals she originally met with police after having a rape kit exam done at a hospital days after the alleged assault, though initially withheld Retzlaff’s name, per the Tribune.

According to her lawsuit, the woman admits she eventually identified Retzlaff to Provo police after an officer asked her because “someone else filed a complaint against a football player and police wanted to see if it was the same person,” the Tribune reports. The lawsuit also alleges that Provo officer encouraged her not to pursue any further criminal charges, reportedly telling her “sexual assault victims never get justice,” per the Tribune.

Retzlaff and his family declined comment when contacted by The Salt Lake Tribune, while both BYU and Provo police did not respond to multiple requests for comment, the paper reports.

The new lawsuit reveals the woman and another friend went to Retzlaff’s home on Nov. 22, 2023, and the woman opted to remain at the home after her friend left, the Tribune reports. While watching a movie, the woman and Retzlaff reportedly began kissing though the woman “asserts in her lawsuit that she ‘did not want to do anything more,'” according to the Tribune.

At that point, the woman alleges Retzlaff continued “escalating the situation,” according to the lawsuit reviewed by the Tribune, and the BYU quarterback instructed her to give him oral sex. The lawsuit reads: “Jane Doe A.G. reacted in a way that made Retzlaff angry. He started to shout at her, and she reached for her phone to call someone, but her phone was dead,” the Tribune reports.

While waiting for her phone to charge, the woman alleges Retzlaff fell asleep but woke up again and “began forcefully kissing her and touching her. The woman said she told Retzlaff ‘stop’ and ‘no’ as he was grabbing a condom, but alleges in the lawsuit that he did not stop and had sex with her,” according to the Tribune.

Retzlaff, who transferred to BYU ahead of the 2023 season and went 0-4 in four starts late that first year in Provo, had a breakout 2024 season in which he led the Cougars to an 11-2 record while throwing for 2,947 yards on 57.9-percent passing and 20 touchdowns to 12 interceptions last year. Retzlaff is also known as the first Jewish starting quarterback at BYU, which is traditionally a devout Mormon institution operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Retzlaff’s attorney, Mark Baute, issued a statement to Provo-based “ESPN the Fan” declaring the BYU quarterback as “factually innocent” later Wednesday, after the Salt Lake Tribune’s story dropped.

“I am counsel for Jake Retzlaff. I have met him, and he is a nice young man. He is also factually innocent, and we look forward to proving that innocence,” Baute said in the statement. “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.”