Update -- Feb. 15: An arrest warrant has been issued for Nebraska running back Maurice Washington in California. ESPN reported Thursday that Nebraska officials didn't know the specific charges against Washington when he was a freshman during the 2018 football season. He will voluntarily report to California after a judge in Santa Clara county signed a warrant for his arrest on two charges.
"Mr. Washington had absolutely nothing to do with the alleged sexual assault," his attorney John C. Ball said in a statement. "The young woman in this case did not even allege that the recorded incident was sexual assault and nonconsensual until recently, after she allegedly received the video from Mr. Washington, years after the alleged assault happened. This is about two young people who were once boyfriend and girlfriend in the eighth grade, and their communications years later. Without all the facts, any judgment of anything in this case is premature, and would be based only on speculation and conjecture. Mr. Washington is presumed to be innocent. He will address this case in a court of law, relying on rules of evidence and due process."
Original story -- Feb. 11: A disturbing story involving Nebraska running back Maurice Washington has surfaced reporting that the player is facing criminal charges for revenge porn and child porn. According to court records obtained by NBC Bay Area, Washington is facing those charges in his home state of California in connection to a video he allegedly kept of a 15-year-old female victim teen being sexually assaulted.
Washington himself is not said to be involved in the video or to have filmed it. However, Washington is accused of sending it to the victim in March 2018 in an attempt to inflict emotional damage. Washington and the victim previously dated at The King's Academy High School. The video shows the victim and two male classmates engaging in sexual acts, though the victim said the acts were not consensual. One of the boys depicted in the video was arrested in 2016 and placed on probation for distribution of child pornography.
"Mr. Washington will continue to be fully cooperative with the authorities in this situation," his attorney, John C. Ball, told NBC. "We are in contact with those authorities, and are in the process of making arrangements to move forward and resolve this matter. Mr. Washington has confidence in our justice system, and knows that he can rely on the fundamental constitutional rights of due process and the presumption of innocence."
Washington, a former four-star recruit who signed with the Huskers in 2018, is not yet in custody. In a statement released Monday afternoon, Nebraska said that while it was notified by the state's Attorney General's office last fall that officials in California wanted to speak to Washington, no details were shared with the university and no follow-up was conducted.
Statement from Nebraska athletics regarding Maurice Washington. #huskers pic.twitter.com/iemHiB4Tqt
— Sam McKewon (@swmckewonOWH) February 11, 2019
Washington was the third-leading rusher as a freshman in 2018 with 455 yards and three touchdowns.
