Four Eastside Catholic High School football players accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl in April 2018 faced no criminal charges after the incident. Prosecutors said they received too much conflicting information about what happened that night. 

Police officials, sexual assault advocates and the lead King County prosecutor on the teenagers’ case said whenever prosecutors decline to file charges in sexual assault cases, it does not mean that no crime occurred.

“The decision had nothing to do with believing or not believing a victim,” said Emily Petersen, the King County prosecuting attorney who led the case. “It had to do with the available evidence that would be presented in court, and we did not have a good faith belief that the evidence would result in the conviction of a crime.”

It’s undisputed, based on a KING 5 review of hundreds of pages of law enforcement records, that four high school football stars took turns having sex with the girl in the open-air bed of a pickup truck as it drove through the wealthy Bellevue suburbs of Hunts Point and Medina. 

Two other teenagers, including another Eastside Catholic standout player, watched from inside the cab, according to investigative files. At least one player took video of the events that night and sent them out over the popular app, Snapchat, according to police records and KING 5 interviews with students who said they received and watched the video clips. 

Since no criminal charges were filed in the case, KING 5 is not identifying any of the six male students involved in the April 2018 incident. The female is not identified because she is an alleged victim of sexual assault.

RELATED: Four Eastside Catholic H.S. football players suspected of sexual assault in 2018; none charged with a crime

The alleged victim, who attended another school at the time, told Clyde Hill police that she was drunk that Friday night and that she did not consent to sexual relations in the bed of the truck. Her account of what happened propelled a five-month police investigation that involved seven law enforcement agencies and interviews with more than a dozen witnesses. 

“We took (the case) very seriously,” said Kyle Kolling, chief of police at the Clyde Hill Police Department, the lead agency on the case.  

The two teenagers, who told detectives they observed the sex acts from the cab of the pickup, shared a different version of the story, investigative records show. They said the female was “the initiator,” and that everything that happened was consensual. 

Law enforcement records reveal the four male suspects, who remained on Eastside Catholic’s powerhouse football team during and after the investigation, did not agree to police interviews. The alleged victim, suspects and witnesses involved in the 2018 incident declined to be interviewed for this story.

Eastside Catholic, founded in 1980, is a private faith-based school in Sammamish. Approximately 850 middle and high school students attend the school, according to the school’s website. 

‘The officer put together an incredible case’

In September 2018, Clyde Hill police completed their investigation and sent their findings to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for a filing decision. Police recommended that the 18-year-old suspect, the only adult involved, should be charged with rape of a child in the third degree. They recommended that prosecutors consider sexual assault charges for the three minor suspects, records show.  Law enforcement offered the two witnesses limited immunity in exchange for their cooperation.   

Petersen, the prosecuting attorney who specializes in sexual assault, said this was one of the most “alarming” cases involving juveniles to ever cross her desk. 

“I think it’s the number of participants (who) participated in the alleged assault. I think that is what is alarming,” she said. “We don’t see that often involving juvenile suspects or even adult suspects.”

Three months after finalizing the investigation, in December 2018, King County prosecutor’s office officials announced they would not file criminal charges against the four teens.

“I believe that the officer put together an incredible case,” said Lt. Dawn Hanson, who oversaw the Clyde Hill Police Department’s investigation. “Unfortunately, it stopped at the prosecutor’s office and that can be frustrating.”

Case doesn’t stick due to conflicting accounts

Petersen said the alleged victim was cooperative every step of the way. 

“She did not hold back information that may have been embarrassing to her,” Petersen said. “I think it took a tremendous amount of courage for her to report this — at great expense to her and her family, and I certainly believe that she was as honest as she could be with us.” 

Petersen said prosecutors declined to file charges against the private school students because there were too many different versions of what happened that night and not enough tangible evidence for prosecutors to be successful with a conviction in court.

“We are ethically bound — no matter how outraged we may be by the behavior or how much sympathy we have for a young person who comes forward and reports. We are ethically bound to not charge cases that are not supported by evidence,” Petersen said.

“I do believe that she told her truth as she remembers it, as she felt it and as she perceived it after the incident,” Petersen said.

Despite obtaining a search warrant, detectives were never able to recover the videos that at least one player sent to other students on Snapchat. Both police and Petersen said having access to the video would have been beneficial to the investigation.

“It certainly would have added some clarity to the many different versions from many different people about what occurred that night,” Petersen said.  

Examples of discrepancies

The alleged victim told police she was drunk and that she “wasn’t in the condition to give consent.” But a player in the pickup truck told police that was “a lie,” and that she wasn’t drunk, according to police records.  

A female friend who spent time with the girl at a friend’s house before meeting up with the football players told police the alleged victim “had approximately two shots” of whiskey and that “she was perfectly fine” when she left to hang out with the boys.

The alleged victim told detectives the sex was “not consensual,” adding that the boys had “an unsaid authority over me.” She also told police she froze up during the incident and didn’t protest.

“I was really scared, and I felt that if I didn’t listen to them they were going to do something,” the alleged victim said to police, according to the investigation file. 

But the same friend who spent time with the girl before the incident told law enforcement that when she communicated with the female after the alleged rape, she only “said positive things about what happened.” 

A male friend, who had dinner with the female earlier in the night, informed detectives in a May 2018 statement that the alleged victim said she was eager to connect with one of the football players that night. 

“She told everyone she was going to leave and ‘have sex with this guy,’” the friend, who went to school with the alleged victim, wrote in his statement. 

According to records, the male also said she “was talking about it a lot at school and was bragging” about the night.

“It’s not our job to determine whether or not something bad happened. We know in this case that something happened that this young woman was not okay with. Something that was very detrimental to her happened,” Petersen said. “But that is not enough for us to determine that there is sufficient evidence to charge somebody with a crime.”

Fabrication ‘rare’ for sex crime victims 

Mary Ellen Stone, executive director of the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, said it’s rare for victims of sex crimes to fabricate their stories. 

“That’s part of the whole victim blaming atmosphere that exists. It’s easy to dismiss these reports by saying, ‘That never really happened. Somebody’s making it up.’ But we don’t see that happening,” she said.

Like criminal justice experts, Stone said it’s important to remember that when there are no charges in a sexual assault case, it doesn’t automatically mean no crime occurred. 

“That’s one particular standard that people hold. (They say) if he wasn’t or she wasn’t charged, if they weren’t found guilty, then that means it didn’t happen. That’s not true at all,” she said. 

The Eastside Catholic players remained on the team after the April 2018 incident. They went on to win two state championship titles in 2018 and 2019. The three males who still attend the school obtained scholarships to play football at prestigious universities.

One of the witnesses in the case received a football scholarship from Stanford University. He was set to attend the school and play this fall, but the university rescinded its scholarship offer and revoked his admission status this week. 

Petersen said the prosecutor’s office did not give the suspects preferential treatment because of their star status on the prominent high school team.

“It would be unethical of us to treat these young men differently because they were football players,” she said. “We are required to treat people fairly whether they are a suspect or whether they are a victim. That is what we did in this case.” 

The alleged victim, now 18, wrote that her life fell apart after that night two years ago. She detailed her experience in a declaration submitted to a King County court last month, revealing she was partially hospitalized for “a period of months,” diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and that she had dropped out of her high school.

The girl submitted the declaration after The Seattle Times and a California newspaper requested public records related to the case earlier this year. She wrote she wasn’t seeking media attention, but she supported news outlets investigating why the prosecutor’s office didn’t file charges.

“I don’t like the idea of anyone reading the details contained in the records, but I support an effort to review and provide accountability for the decision of the prosecutor’s office in my case,” the alleged victim wrote.  

The four football players who were under investigation also filed declarations in court last month in an effort to block release of the records. They stated “no crime was committed.” In a statement, an attorney for one of the suspects commended the prosecutor for making the “correct and just decision.” 

Eastside Catholic declined an interview request, explaining in a statement that they left the investigation up to police and prosecutors because they didn’t have evidence of their own. 

The Clyde Hill Police Department officials who worked on the case said they understand there are many reasons why a case doesn’t get prosecuted. The statute of limitations hasn’t expired, but Petersen said the King County prosecutor’s office stands by its decision. 

“I don’t want somebody sitting at home to (see) this story and think, ‘What’s the point (of reporting)? People are just going to get off,’” Petersen said. “Even though it did not result in criminal charges, it was still taken seriously. It was not brushed under the rug. It was not swept under the carpet by the police or the prosecutor’s office.”

If you or someone you know is the victim of a sexual assault, help is available. We’ve compiled a list of some Washington state resources and information on how to report a sex crime in your area. 

To talk to someone immediately from the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, call the 24-hour resource line at 888-997-6423. 

Asked several times if he could have missed it, Bruno, who is white, said it was possible but unlikely.

“I guess if he whispered it,” he said. “But I never saw anything that shows one of them was whispering. And I would still be in close proximity.”

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Young declined through a representative to comment and has not elaborated or spoken publicly about the incident since his initial post on Twitter on Tuesday morning. Harrison defeated Young in their first-round match, 6-3, 7-6 (4), but then lost his next one and was eliminated from the singles competition.

It is unclear whether the ATP will penalize either player. Harrison and Young have a history of acrimony, and Harrison is known on the tour for his aggressive and abrasive manner, often incurring the ire of opponents and tournament officials.

Bruno said he generally likes Young more than Harrison because Young is more approachable on court. But he said that he witnessed “ridiculous, immature behavior” from both players.

The incident occurred during a changeover at 4-3 in the first set Monday night. The players got into an argument that quickly grew so heated that the umpire had to come down from his chair to separate the players. Young, who is black, told ATP officials that the remark was made by Harrison, who is white, during that changeover.

The post on Young’s Twitter account read, “I’m shocked and disappointed, Ryan Harrison, to hear you tell me how you really feel about me as a black tennis player in the middle of our NY match.”

During its investigation, the ATP interviewed the umpire and the ball people and reviewed video of the incident, which shows Bruno standing behind Harrison. Audio of the exchange is unclear, but Bruno, who can be seen on the video drinking from a bottle of water and smirking, said he smiled because he thought the players were joking at first.

Harrison, he said, told Young not to audibly celebrate Harrison’s mistakes on the court, something that is considered poor sportsmanship in tennis. Young told Harrison to shut up, using an expletive. Bruno also said that Young leveled an abusive, nonracial, term at Harrison and challenged him to a fight. Harrison responded by holding his hand out, mocking Young for being short.

“Donald Young said, ‘Let’s take this outside, let’s fight outside,’ ” Bruno said. “Ryan kept saying, ‘You’re this tall,’ and kept gesturing with his hand, ‘You’re this tall, you’re this tall.’ ”

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At that point, the umpire came down from his chair and separated the players. Later, Young took a bathroom break and Bruno said he heard the chair umpire say something to Harrison that appeared to be a warning.

“Harrison said, ‘You should really be addressing him and give him a talking to,’ ” Bruno said, “and that was that.”

Bruno said that he and others were rotated off the court before the end of the match, which is routine. He said he and the other ball people went into a lounge and discussed what they heard. An ATP official later came in and asked for their accounts, which Bruno said he believed was before anyone knew there would be charges of racism leveled on social media.

The next morning, on his way to the tournament in Uniondale, N.Y., Bruno heard about Young’s tweet about racial abuse. Bruno said he was surprised, and when he arrived at the event, an ATP official asked him and another ball person who was present the night before to write down their accounts of what had occurred.

“Nothing more, nothing less,” Bruno said he was told. “Just write exactly what you heard.”

He said he wrote a paragraph, and that was the last he heard about it from tournament officials. But later, when he saw the fallout on social media, he felt compelled to speak out. He wrote on his Twitter account that he was present and heard nothing racist. Harrison retweeted Bruno’s post.

He said Harrison later called him and told him how he was being “brutalized” on social media.

“It was pretty nasty, some of the things I was reading,” Bruno said. “For people to just jump on the bandwagon and start, like, really damaging someone’s character without hearing any evidence or details of the conversation, it didn’t sit right with me.”

A medical imaging technologist, Bruno said he played high school tennis at Francis Lewis High School in Queens and has been a ball person for more than a decade, including assignments at the United States Open since 2007.

He said he knew that by going public with his account he could be jeopardizing his ability to work as a ball person at future events because they are not supposed to speak publicly. But he also said if he had heard anything racial, he would have spoken up about that, too.

“If I heard it, I would definitely vouch that it was said,” he said. “It’s not right.”

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