MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) –  Gideon Erhabor – a former running back for Bethal University – has been charged with sexually assaulting three female students.

The 21-year-old, who is currently held in his hometown of McKinney, Texas, allegedly assaulted the women between Sep. 11, 2018, and Oct. 6, 2019.

According to the criminal complaint, on June 21, 2019, a 19-year-old woman reported to Ramsey County deputies that she had been sexually assaulted by Erhabor in a Bethel University dorm. They had met a few days before and had snapchatted for a couple of days when he asked her to come to his room and watch a movie. She said yes and went to his room, though she told him she did not want to have sex. However, he ignored her, forcing himself on and sexually assaulting her. When he was done, he took her back to her dorm.

In the second case, Erharbor sexually assaulted a 22-year-old Bethel student on Dec. 8, 2018 at a house party on Lexington Avenue. She had gone to the party with three of her friends at approximately 10:30 p.m. She remembered walking around for about half an hour before blacking out, waking at 11 a.m. the next day at her friend’s apartment.

When she woke, she recalled feeling groggy, queasy, and experiencing vaginal pain. The woman’s friends said she had disappeared for about an hour at the party and reappeared looking highly intoxicated. They brought her home around 1 a.m.

According to the complaint, she only has flashback memories of her time at the party, including a memory of Erhabor on top of her, and a memory of walking down a street alone. When she snapchatted him the next morning, asking “Did anything happen last night?” and “Do I need anything?” Erhabor responded: “I used a condom. You’re fine.” Ramsey County deputies received a report about this case on June 22, 2019.

In the third case, a 20-year-old Bethel student reported Erhabor had sexually assaulted her on Oct. 7, 2018, at a house party in Roseville. She drank two strawberry flavored drinks and went outside at 2 a.m., but was not clear on what happened after that. The next morning, she woke at her friend’s apartment, wearing only a T-shirt and no underwear.

On Nov. 30, 2018, Erhabor came to her room uninvited and climbed into bed with her. She told him she wasn’t going to do anything sexual with him, but then Erhabor added that it wasn’t like he had not seen “it” before.

When she asked him what he was talking about, Erhabor said they had sex in a bathroom on the night of the October party. He thought she didn’t like it because she had fallen asleep. The woman realized she had been unconscious and told Erhabor to get out of her room.

Ramsey County deputies interviewed Erhabor on Aug. 5, 2019, at an ice cream shop in McKinney.

He admitted to meeting the first woman and watching a movie together in his dorm. However he said they engaged in sexual foreplay but then stopped, offering to take her home. When she allegedly refused, they engaged in sexual activity.

When asked about the second incident, Erharbor said he was drinking before he got to the party and was approached by the woman. He said he had a condom and asked if it was alright to use it. According to the complaint, Erharbor said she consented and as they were having intercourse, she began to have second thoughts. He said he stopped, leaving her outside.

Erhabor said he met the third woman during their freshman year in the dining hall. He had seen her at parties and she always came onto him sexually. A number of times before the assault, he asked her to go out with him. However every time he asked her to have sex, she refused. He admitted to having sex with her at the October house party in a bathroom but denied she was asleep, claiming she was talking. He did not recall sending her a message saying she was asleep, charges said. If he did, he said it was a stupid thing to say and likely the result of his “dark sense of humor” and that “I make jokes like that.”

The second and third women filed reports with Bethel University against Erhabor in April 2019.

If convicted, Erhabor could serve 15 years in prison for each crime.

A former Bethel University football player is accused of sexually assaulting three students enrolled at the Christian college in 2018.

The women reported the incidents to police in recent months, leading authorities to charge Gideon Osamwonyi Erhabor, 21, via warrant with three counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, according to charges filed Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court.

Erhabor was listed as a running back on Bethel’s football team in 2018. He was not on the 2019 roster. Bethel spokesman Michael Vedders confirmed that Erhabor was a student at the Arden Hills school from the fall of 2017 to fall 2018. Vedders said the university was unaware of any criminal complaint against Erhabor and was unable to comment on the matter.

“Bethel University is saddened and concerned when any sexual assault is reported and is committed to cooperating with law enforcement,” he said.

Erhabor, who was arrested and jailed Wednesday in Collin County, Texas, was unable to be reached.

The allegations date back to the fall and winter of 2018.

In one instance, a now-22-year-old woman who was attending the college at the time told police she ran into Erhabor at a house party on the 5000 block of Lexington Avenue North in December of that year, according to the charges.

She brought one hard seltzer alcoholic drink with her to the gathering and remembers walking around and socializing for about half an hour, before blacking out, according to the charges.

She woke up the next morning groggy and confused with pain in her vaginal area and bruising on her legs, the complaint said.

Her friends told her that she disappeared for a short time at the party and that when she reappeared she was “highly intoxicated,” according to the charges.

In the few flashbacks she could recall from that evening, the woman remembered Erhabor “hanging around her” before she blacked out, and telling him she wasn’t interested in having sex with him at the time, according to the charges.

She used Snapchat to contact Erhabor to help fill in the gaps in her memory, specifically asking if anything had happened between the two of them at the party and if she needed to be concerned about pregnancy, according to the charges.

Erhabor responded, “I used a condom. You’re fine,” the complaint said.

A onetime Bethel University football player has been charged with raping three students in a span of less than three months while he attended the school late last year.

Gideon O. Erhabor, 21, of McKinney, Texas, was charged Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court with third-degree criminal sexual conduct in connection with the rapes that occurred on or near the Christian-based private school’s Arden Hills campus in the fall of 2018.

Sheriff’s deputies caught up with Erhabor in his hometown, and he told them each case involved consensual sex, according to the charging documents.

Erhabor was arrested Tuesday in Texas and remains jailed there Thursday pending extradition to Minnesota.

Erhabor was a running back for Bethel in 2017 and 2018. The graduate of McKinney Christian Academy was majoring in business before he left Bethel at the end of 2018.

John Addleman, special assistant to the university president’s office, declined to say whether Erhabor was disciplined by the school before his departure.

A campuswide notice in connection with the assaults was sent Thursday by Bethel’s administration, more than seven months after two of the women went to university officials with their allegations.

“We are saddened and concerned by this news and are committed to cooperating with law enforcement,” read the statement from Michael Vedders, Bethel’s chief enrollment and marketing officer. “As a community, we strive to ensure our campus is a safe, welcoming and respectful place for our students to learn and our employees to work. … Please join us in prayer for all those involved.”

According to the charges against Erhabor:

An 18-year-old student said she was invited by Erhaborto his dorm room on Sept. 11, 2018, to watch a movie.

While in his room, she turned him down for sex, but he forcibly kissed and groped her before raping her.

In the second case, a 19-year-old student said she was at a house party on Oct. 6, 2018, in Roseville and drank two alcoholic drinks. About 2 a.m. she went outside and felt disoriented. Later that morning, she awoke in a friend’s apartment “totally confused about what happened the night before.”

On Nov. 30, Erhabor came to her room and got in bed with her, and she told him she didn’t want to have sex. Erhabor asked why and explained they had sex at the house party in October.

Erhabor made a habit of aggressively pursuing her by asking her out, kissing her and trying to persuade her to have sex. She said no each time, charges said.

In the third case, a 21-year-old student said she was at a house party on Dec. 8, 2018, in Shoreview with three of her college friends. She brought a can of hard seltzer with her. She recalled mingling at the party for about 30 minutes before blacking out and waking up late the next morning feeling groggy, queasy, and feeling pain in her genitalia.

She reported the incident the next day to her former resident assistant, stating that she did not want to have sex with Erhabor.

In April, the 21-year-old and the 19-year-old filed sexual assault reports with Bethel officials.

Statistics provided by Bethel show that allegations in recent years of sexual assault on campus are rare. Four alleged rapes were reported to have occurred in 2016-2018. Covered by the data are Bethel’s Frogtown/Summit U satellite and study abroad locations. Not included are reports of assaulted involving Bethel students but occurring off-campus.

 

According to criminal complaints, Ramsey County deputies were notified of an alleged sexual assault on June 2. The victim told authorities she was sexually assaulted by Erhabor on Dec. 8, 2018 at a house party in Shoreview. The victim told deputies she walked around the party for about half an hour and then blacked out, and woke up the next morning at an apartment feeling groggy, queasy and experiencing vaginal pain, a complaint states. She also noticed bruising on her thighs.

The victim’s friends reported to police that the victim had gone missing for about an hour while they were at the party, and when she reappeared she seemed highly intoxicated and wasn’t making any sense.

According to the complaint, the victim had a flashback memory of Erhabor on top of her, and when she snapchatted him on Dec. 9 asking if anything happened at the party, Erhabor allegedly responded, “I used a condom. You’re fine.”

The victim told authorities she also reported the incident to her former residence assistant. The RA told police the victim was crying and really upset the day after the sexual assault, and said the victim thought Erhabor had sex with her at the party after she blacked out. The victim also said Erhabor was all over her before she blacked out and she made it clear she didn’t want to have sex with him.

The complaint states the victim said she felt ashamed after the assault and didn’t want to make a formal report. In April 2019, she learned another student had been sexually assaulted by Erhabor on Sept. 9, 2018 while that girl was blacked out. The victim said she and the other victim then went to the university on April 24, 2019 and she filed a formal report against Erhabor. The other victim filed a formal report against Erhabor two days later with university officials.

Ramsey County deputies met with Erhabor at an ice cream shop in is home town of McKinney, Texas on Aug. 5, the complaint states. During that meeting, Erhabor reported he was drinking before he got to the party. He claimed the victim came onto him sexually so they went to his car and she consented to sex. He said the victim had second thoughts as they were having sex, so they stopped and he went back to the party, leaving the victim outside. Erhabor told authorities when the victim snapchatted him the next day, he told her he used a condom, and they hadn’t had any contact since.

Deputies received a report of a sexual assault involving Erhabor by that second victim on June 7. The victim said the sexual assault occurred on Oct. 7, 2018, at a house party in Roseville. A complaint states the victim told deputies she had been socializing with friends and consumed two alcoholic drinks. At about 2 a.m., she went outside and then woke up the next morning at an apartment wearing only a t-shirt.

The complaint states Erhabor came to the victim’s room uninvited and climbed into her bed on Nov. 30, 2018, and the victim asked what he was doing and told him she wouldn’t do anything sexual with him. The victim told deputies Erhabor then asked why nothing sexual would happen and said he’d already seen “it” before when they had sex at the house party in October. Erhabor then allegedly told the victim they had sex in a bathroom at the party and she fell asleep.

The victim told authorities Erhabor had asked her to go out with him numerous times prior to the house party and asked her to have sex with him on multiple occasions, the complaint states. The victim said she told Erhabor “no” every time he asked.

When deputies met with Erhabor in McKinney, Texas on Aug. 5, Erhabor said he first met the victim freshman year and they had run into each other at several parties. He claimed the victim always came onto him sexually and admitted they had sex at the October house party. The complaint states he denied the victim ever fell asleep while they were having sex. Erhabor also told deputies he didn’t recall sending a message to the victim telling her she was asleep while they had sex, and if he did it was likely the result of his “dark sense of humor and I make jokes like that.”

Ramsey County deputies received another report of a sexual assault involving Ramsey County deputies on June 21, which also occurred in a Bethel dorm room. A complaint states the victim said the assault occurred on Sept. 11, 2018. The victim told authorities Erhabor and the victim had been snapchatting and Erhabor asked the victim to come to his room to watch a movie.

The complaint states the victim told Erhabor she didn’t want to have sex with him, but he started kissing and groping her. Erhabor then allegedly got more aggressive and when the victim tried to move away from him, the victim said Erhabor grabbed her by the hips and raped her as she cried into a pillow and pleaded for him to stop. Afterward, Erhabor took her back to her dorm room.

The victim told authorities she was in shock afterward and asked a friend to come get her.

According to the complaint, when Ramsey County deputies interviewed Erhabor on Aug. 5 at the ice cream shop in his hometown he allegedly admitted to meeting the victim and said they “made out.” Erhabor told the deputies the two went back to his dorm room and, after some foreplay, they had sex and the victim then cried after she “recounted a prior event,” the complaint states. Erhabor then said they watched a movie and had sex again, and when they finished Erhabor told the victim he “understood if she never wanted to speak with him again” and they hadn’t spoken since.

Erhabor was listed on the Bethel University website as a running back for the football team in 2017. He was in custody Wednesday afternoon in the Collin County Jail in Texas.

Each criminal sexual conduct charge carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, a $30,000 fine or both.

A Bethel University spokesperson issued the following statement on the matter:

“Mr. Erhabor was a student at Bethel University from Fall semester 2017 through Fall semester 2018. During this time, he was also on the football roster. The university has not seen the criminal complaint and is therefore unable to comment. Bethel University is saddened and concerned when any sexual assault is reported and is committed to cooperating with law enforcement. We strive to ensure our campus is a safe, welcoming, and respectful place for our students to learn and our employees to work.”

A onetime Bethel University football player has been charged with raping three students in a span of less than three months while he attended the school late last year.

Gideon O. Erhabor, 21, of McKinney, Texas, was charged Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court with third-degree criminal sexual conduct in connection with the rapes that occurred on or near the Christian-based private school’s Arden Hills campus in the fall of 2018.

Sheriff’s deputies caught up with Erhabor in his hometown, and he told them each case involved consensual sex, according to the charging documents.

Erhabor was arrested Tuesday in Texas and remains jailed there Thursday pending extradition to Minnesota.

Erhabor was a running back for Bethel in 2017 and 2018. The graduate of McKinney Christian Academy was majoring in business before he left Bethel at the end of 2018.

John Addleman, special assistant to the university president’s office, declined to say whether Erhabor was disciplined by the school before his departure.

A campuswide notice in connection with the assaults was sent Thursday by Bethel’s administration, more than seven months after two of the women went to university officials with their allegations.

“We are saddened and concerned by this news and are committed to cooperating with law enforcement,” read the statement from Michael Vedders, Bethel’s chief enrollment and marketing officer. “As a community, we strive to ensure our campus is a safe, welcoming and respectful place for our students to learn and our employees to work. … Please join us in prayer for all those involved.”

According to the charges against Erhabor:

An 18-year-old student said she was invited by Erhaborto his dorm room on Sept. 11, 2018, to watch a movie.

While in his room, she turned him down for sex, but he forcibly kissed and groped her before raping her.

In the second case, a 19-year-old student said she was at a house party on Oct. 6, 2018, in Roseville and drank two alcoholic drinks. About 2 a.m. she went outside and felt disoriented. Later that morning, she awoke in a friend’s apartment “totally confused about what happened the night before.”

On Nov. 30, Erhabor came to her room and got in bed with her, and she told him she didn’t want to have sex. Erhabor asked why and explained they had sex at the house party in October.

Erhabor made a habit of aggressively pursuing her by asking her out, kissing her and trying to persuade her to have sex. She said no each time, charges said.

In the third case, a 21-year-old student said she was at a house party on Dec. 8, 2018, in Shoreview with three of her college friends. She brought a can of hard seltzer with her. She recalled mingling at the party for about 30 minutes before blacking out and waking up late the next morning feeling groggy, queasy, and feeling pain in her genitalia.

She reported the incident the next day to her former resident assistant, stating that she did not want to have sex with Erhabor.

In April, the 21-year-old and the 19-year-old filed sexual assault reports with Bethel officials.

Statistics provided by Bethel show that allegations in recent years of sexual assault on campus are rare. Four alleged rapes were reported to have occurred in 2016-2018. Covered by the data are Bethel’s Frogtown/Summit U satellite and study abroad locations. Not included are reports of assaulted involving Bethel students but occurring off-campus.