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.

 

Draylon Deshune Johnson, a 2018 football standout for the Aztecs, pleaded not guilty on Monday in Victorville.

VICTORVILLE — An 18-year-old man arrested at Barstow High School last week has been charged by prosecutors with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit a crime.

Draylon Deshune Johnson, a former standout football player, appeared via video before San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Susan Slater in a Victorville courtroom Monday afternoon and pleaded not guilty to the charges, court records show.

Slater set bail at $1 million for Johnson, who had a public defender appointed to his case.

Barstow police Captain Andy Espinoza Jr. said Johnson and two teenagers were arrested in connection to a shooting in Barstow in the early morning hours of Jan. 4. The teenagers are 15 and 17 year old.

Espinoza said an officer took a report from the victim around 2:45 p.m. on Jan. 4, and learned that the victim heard several gunshots and a vehicle “speed from the 200 block of East Main Street.”

“The victim stated that his vehicle was struck by several bullets and provided Officer (Ruben) Escalante with several bullet casings that were collected from the area of the shooting,” Espinoza said in a statement.

The vehicle was processed for evidence. Further investigation conducted by Det. Matthew Helms revealed that the shooting was allegedly over a stolen bicycle, according to Espinoza.

The victim said he reviewed video surveillance that showed the 15 year old stealing a customer’s bicycle. He then sent the teen a message on social media asking that the bike be returned.

“During the social media conversation, the 17 year old sent the victim a threatening message,” Espinoza said. “Shortly after, the shooting occurred…”

Authorities obtained the video of the alleged theft and were able to link the teens to the crime.

Espinoza said detectives located the 17 year old at a gym in Silver Lakes, where he was detained. He was arrested Jan. 7 at his home in Helendale on suspicion of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit a crime.

Espinoza said the bicycle, a gun, bullets, casings and “other items of evidence” were seized from the home.

“The firearm seized during the search warrant matched the caliber of the casings that were located at the shooting scene and appears to be the same firearm that was depicted in the threatening photograph and message sent through social media,” Espinoza said.

Further investigation revealed the teens planned to shoot and kill the victim, and that Johnson was with the teens at the time of the shooting, Espinoza said.

Johnson was located at the high school on Jan. 9 and arrested at approximately 10:39 a.m.

The 15 year old was arrested at approximately 12:05 p.m. that same day as he was walking in the 2000 block of Sequoia Drive.

Both teens were booked at High Desert Juvenile Detention and Assessment Center in Apple Valley.

Johnson, who is currently being held at High Desert Detention Center in Adelanto, is due back in court Thursday for a pre-preliminary hearing.

Johnson, according to MaxPreps.com rosters, previously played football at Barstow High and at Riverside Preparatory High School in Oro Grande.

In 2018, Johnson was listed on Barstow’s MaxPreps.com roster as 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds, the same information listed on booking records. That season, Johnson was named to the Desert Sky League’s First Team as a defensive lineman.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Helms at 760-255-5132. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call the WeTip hotline at 800-782-7436 or visit www.WeTip.com.

Jose Quintero may be reached at 760-951-6274 or JQuintero@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DP_JoseQ.

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.

 

A former Hong Kong footballer of the year is facing jail as he admitted on Thursday that he pocketed HK$10,000 after fixing two local league reserve matches in 2016.

The District Court heard that Lee Wai-lim, who won the prestigious award in 2009, coached players of Hong Kong Pegasus Football Club, which he was then a member of, to score goals and lose the game in their matches against Biu Chun Rangers Football Club.

Lee, 36, did this after receiving instructions from a player of Biu Chun Rangers, with whom he had placed bets.

Former Hong Kong footballer of the year will admit match-fixing, court told

Prosecutors also revealed that Pegasus players were occasionally asked to follow a bookmaker’s instructions to fix the result of certain matches in exchange for monetary reward, or they would have to compensate the bookmaker when they failed to do so.

That was despite all players having agreed to the Hong Kong Football Association’s Code of Ethics, which prohibits any match-fixing activity and match manipulation as well as the solicitation or acceptance of any advantage for such purposes.

Lee, who had been remanded in jail for close to six months, on Thursday pleaded guilty to one count of being an agent accepting an advantage, and another of conspiracy to defraud. A third charge of conspiracy to defraud, which Lee denied, was not pursued by prosecutors on Thursday.

Five former Hong Kong footballers charged with match-fixing as city graft-buster probes irregularities in local league reserve matches

He was freed on HK$20,000 bail pending a sentence to be hand down after the end of trial, with the condition that he remain in Hong Kong and report to police once a week.

Lee was one of five former Pegasus players charged by the Independent Commission Against Corruption last year in relation to several alleged conspiracies that they had fixed three matches while offering and accepting bribes totalling HK$60,000.

The matches were part of the Reserve Division League organised by the football association, with results having no bearing on the respective teams’ position and points in the city’s Premier League.

But Pegasus’ chairwoman Canny Leung Chi-shan and association chairman Mark Sutcliffe both noted that match fixing or manipulation would adversely affect their respective image, sponsorship and income, and put their economic interests at risk.

District judge Edmond Lee Chun-man warned: “Imprisonment seems inevitable, and [the sentence] will not be a short one.”

The court heard that Lee Wai-lim was approached by Biu Chun Rangers’ then defender Liu Songwei before a game between the two clubs at Shek Kip Mei Park on March 23, 2016. Lee, in his capacity as Pegasus’ coach, then instructed his player Wong Wai to refrain from scoring in the first 15 minutes but aim for three goals in the second half of the match. Pegasus lost 2-6.

Lee and two players – Michael Cheng Lai-hin and Lee Ka-ho – were rewarded HK$20,000 each. Another HK$10,000 was each given to a third player Chan Pak-hang and Wong, who later told investigators that he did not follow instructions.

Similar negotiations took place before another game on April 13, during which Lee Wai-lim signalled Wong to lose the match – by putting on the hood of his jacket – for a reward Wong understood to be HK$15,000. But to Lee’s dismay, his team won 1-0.

After the match, Liu told him that he was in trouble because the results did not follow the plan. As Liu issued repeated demands for compensation, Lee Wai-lim – whom prosecutors said was in a “terrified” state for failing to fix the match results – collected HK$10,000 each from Wong, Cheng and Chan. He also told Wong that he would not engage in match fixing anymore.

Lee Wai-lim was arrested months later on October 4.

His co-defendants Kwok Kin-pong, 30, Cheng, 31, Chan, 24, and Lee Ka-ho, 24, have all pleaded not guilty to similar charges of conspiracy to defraud, offering an advantage to an agent and agent accepting an advantage.

Their trial will begin on Friday.

The former Rutgers football player charged in a series of home invasion and armed robberies has cut a deal that calls for 15 year state prison sentence. 

Tejay Johnson, 26, of Egg Harbor Township, admitted to his role in the robberies, during which the group stole cash and drugs, sometimes at gunpoint, Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew Carey said in a release.

Johnson pleaded guilty last week before Superior Court Judge Dennis Nieves to three counts of armed robbery, three counts of armed burglary and three counts of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, authorities said.

The former Scarlett Knight football player was charged along with 14 other former university players and students in 2015 as part of an investigation into three armed robberies and an assault in New Brunswick in Piscataway.

The case, which included seven Rutgers football players, contributed to the firing of former coach Kyle Flood, as well as the forced resignation of athletic director Julie Hermann.  

Johnson rejected the same plea deal last July. Jury selection was scheduled to begin Tuesday in Johnson’s case.

The deal calls for the dismissal of charges connected to an assault on Delafield Street in 2015 over a parking spot, authorities said. 

Johnson will have to serve 85 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole. 

Attorneys sparred for months of the use of Johnson’s cell phone as evidence in the case. The phone allegedly contained a trove of information connecting those charged in the robberies, according to prosecutors. 

Nieves ruled in June that the data on Johnson’s cell phone would be admissible at trial. 

Andre Boggs, of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, and Lloyd Terry Jr., of Wrightstown, both former football players, were also charged in the string of robberies, however, their attorneys last year had asked for delays until Johnson’s case had been resolved. 

Kaylanna Ricks, who was accused of being the getaway driver in an unsuccessful robbery, previously rejected a plea deal requiring her to testify in the case against Johnson. 

The current statuses of their cases were not immediately available. 

Another ex-football player, Jamil C. Pollard, 23, of Woodbury, admitted last year to his role in breaking into a Davidson Hall dorm room on the Busch Campus on Dec. 14, 2014, and swiping marijuana and cash from the student. 

Craig McCarthy may be reached at 732-372-2078 or at CMcCarthy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @createcraig and on Facebook here. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – The NCAA has granted additional eligibility for a North Carolina player who missed most of the 2016 season after being accused of sexual battery and assault on a female.

Those misdemeanor charges were dismissed and attorney Kerry Sutton told The Associated Press on Thursday that the NCAA granted an appeal this week allowing Allen Artis to play the 2018 season. The senior reserve safety must sit two games because he played in two games in 2016 before being indefinitely suspended following his arrest on the charges brought by the student.

Artis had said they had consensual sex during in February 2016 and denied wrongdoing . Charges were dismissed in June and UNC reinstated Artis to the team about a week later.

NCAA spokeswoman Stacey Osburn confirmed the decision to the AP but declined further comment.

AUGUST 1: WARNING GRAPHIC: THE extent of Lynette Daley’s intoxication at the time of a sexual act, which allegedly caused or played a significant part in the cause of her death on a beach north of Iluka, will be a key factor in the Crown’s case against Adrian Attwater and Paul Maris.

Mr Attwater is charged with manslaughter and aggravated sexual intercourse without consent over the Clarence Valley woman’s death, while Mr Maris is facing charges of aggravated sexual intercourse without consent and accessory after the fact to manslaughter.

AUGUST 2: A TRIPLE zero phone call made by manslaughter and rape accused Adrian Attwater has been described in court as “too little too late” and a “panicked response” to the death of Clarence Valley woman Lynette Daley.

AUGUST 3: IMAGINE waking up to 180-degree views of the Clarence River. They don’t come up often, but there was a property for sale in Yamba that many could only dream of owning. However, river frontage like this comes with a hefty price tag.

Listed for $3.2 million, the property was the most expensive house for sale in the Clarence Valley at the time.

AUGUST 4: THE outcome of a recent RSPCA raid at no-kill animal shelter Happy Paws Haven may not be known until the owner next appears in court.

On Monday, RSPCA inspectors investigating a formal complaint about a concern for animal welfare visited the site on Tindal Rd, Eatonsville, to assess the condition of animals. It is believed no cats or dogs were removed from the site.

AUGUST 5: A FORMER coalmine worker who received burns to a quarter of his body hopes a penalty handed down to a mining firm will make the industry safer. Ben Nelson used to love working in coalmines, Brisbane Magistrates Court heard, but after he was engulfed in flames in a 2012 Collinsville accident, it was “physically and mentally impossible” for him to go back.

 

AUGUST 7: OWNERS of SPAR Maclean Bob and Judith Little were over the moon at being announced the 2017 Clarence Valley Business of the Year.

“We couldn’t do it without our staff. They are our greatest asset,” Mr Little said after accepting the award at the Clarence Valley Business Awards in Yamba on Saturday night.

AUGUST 8: POLICE say officers who shot and killed a man during a confrontation on a Grafton street were “textbook” in their response.

Three officers – a sergeant and two constables – were involved in the stand-off with 45-year-old Grafton man Christopher McGrail after they were called to a disturbance at a unit on Turf St just before 3.45pm on Sunday.

Northern Region Commander and Assistant Commissioner Max Mitchell said during a press conference outside Newcastle Police Station at 11am yesterday that police deployed OC spray and a Taser before the officer shot the deceased.

AUGUST 9: ANYONE who has owned a pet will know it can be harder to find rental accommodation, but Steven Nicholls knows this better than most.

Finding a permanent and affordable place to stay for him and his best mate, a red kelpie called Ozzy, proved so difficult it led to a 15-month stint sleeping in his car or a tent. Everywhere he applied for accommodation he was turned down, many times because they didn’t allow pets, but getting rid of Ozzy just wasn’t an option.

AUGUST 10: A MAN facing multiple charges including kidnapping and assault has been extradited from Grafton and taken to Brisbane Watchhouse.

Detectives from Brisbane’s Acacia Ridge Criminal Investigation Branch sought extradition following investigations into the alleged kidnapping of a woman at Darra.

AUGUST 11: THE friend of a man whose Toyota Prado was stolen from a Grafton Base Hospital carpark has thwarted the car thief’s plans to use the vehicle as his own.

Grafton man Stephen Fuller, 46, was sentenced to six months’ jail in Grafton Local Court over the theft of the vehicle, as well as stealing a phone and cards from a nearby house.

AUGUST 12: A MAN has been charged with dangerous driving causing death over a horrific crash in June which resulted in the death of a Nana Glen man.

Bradley Wilson, 23, was the passenger of a Holden Commodore which left the road and crashed into a tree on the Orara Way about 8.50pm on Saturday, June 3.

The 46-year-old male driver, who was believed to be related to the victim, received minor injuries and was taken to Coffs Harbour Health Campus for mandatory blood and urine tests. Police from the Mid North Coast Crash Investigation Unit started inquiries, which resulted in charges being laid at 4.30pm on Thursday.

AUGUST 14: MARTY Wall watched from his camp site in a clearing near Station Creek Rd as horse trailers rolled in on Saturday morning.

Each person was greeted with a handshake and thanks, and then left to gather their horses. Locals and interstate travellers alike, young and old, some with horses, others with bikes and some even setting out on foot to help find Marty’s father’s horse, Ben.

The bid to find Ben, who has been lost in the national park near Station Creek since the tragic death of his rider Allan Wall last week, has captured the attention of the community after a social media post asking for assistance to find the still-saddled horse went viral.

AUGUST 15: NORTH Coast Football has cracked down on a Yamba junior soccer team playing a Down syndrome boy as its 12th man. For two years, the Yamba under-14s have played Marc Stillhard as a 12th player, despite the rules of the game stipulating a maximum of 11 players a side can be on the pitch at one time.

Marc’s mother Enid Reichler-Stillhard said for two years teams in the competition had been willing to waive the rule, allowing Marc to play a full game as a 12th player, without disadvantaging his team.

But that situation has changed following a complaint to the organising body, North Coast Football, which has issued a statement stipulating all games must be played with 11-a-side teams.

AUGUST 16: ROBERT Black and Josh Allen were outgoing, bright young men, both into sport, popular in the community, even a bit cheeky.

Both were diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, a brain stem glioma, and in a little over a year the 21-year-old and 16-year-old were gone.

AUGUST 17: THE safety net is wearing thin at Clarence Valley Council, with the Grafton depot contingency budget dwindling.

In a report presented at Tuesday’s council meeting, it was detailed there was only $30,045 left in the contingency budget for dealing with ground works and ground conditions.

AUGUST 18: PASSIONATE pleas were heard in the Maclean Council Chambers as councillor Jason Kingsley called on his counterparts to remember the work that had gone into the redevelopment of Jacaranda Park.

The painstakingly long and in-depth planning process to create a playground that was inclusive of all children has come to an end.

AUGUST 19: THEORETICAL numbers have caused Clarence Valley Council’s long-term financial plans to hit a stumbling block. The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal has requested the council change its estimated rate pegging of 2 per cent to 2.5per cent in its application for a special rate variation.

General manager Ashley Lindsay says while this won’t change anything for the years council has an SRV in place, it could affect rates after the SRV finished.

AUGUST 21: WHILE Clarence Valley firefighters tackle the first big blazes of the season, flames are being fanned over fears a restructure within NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service will leave our national parks at greater risk of a bushfire tragedy.

The government department, however, says the restructure will result in more staff on the front line.

AUGUST 22: THE FIRST sods have been turned on a multi-million dollar infrastructure project which will one day house the fourth-largest community in the Clarence Valley.

Minister for Corrections David Elliot was among those who travelled to the site of the planned Grafton Correctional Centre for the ceremony.

AUGUST 23: THE Clarence Valley was mourning a man who died in a single-car rollover at Junction Hill yesterday. The 24-year-old victim, who has not yet been named, was a passenger in the rear seat of a Holden Astra that left Back Lane and struck a drain at about 12.45am.

Paramedics attended and treated him but he was trapped and died at the scene.

AUGUST 24: A CLARENCE Valley woman found guilty of the serious neglect of “starving” horses at her Buccarumbi property will be sentenced next month.

Rosalie Smith appeared unrepresented during a Grafton Local Court trial, which continued yesterday, over one charge each of aggravated cruelty upon an animal and failure to provide proper and sufficient food and nutrition, and two counts of failure to provide veterinary treatment, one relating to parasitic infection.

AUGUST 25: A REVELATION that more than $40million would be needed to bring the Clarence Valley’s local roads up to scratch has renewed calls by the NRMA and Clarence Valley Council for funding support.

The NRMA released its annual Funding Local Roads report, which showed a $1.96billion funding backlog was needed to bring NSW’s local roads up to a satisfactory condition.

The report found the north coast accounted for nearly a quarter of that deficit, with the Clarence Valley coming fifth on the list of north coast councils requiring the most money, at $43.68million.

AUGUST 26: THE future of hundreds of Pacific Highway workers is in limbo after a primary contractor, Ostwald Bros, abandoned the project.

Ostwald Bros was contracted by tenderer Seymour Whyte Constructions to carry out early works on the Grafton bypass between Glenugie and Tyndale. But yesterday, deserted machinery was all that remained at the worksites. The Daily Examiner has been told as many as 200 highway workers have already lost their jobs.

AUGUST 28: A CRASH in the Clarence Valley on Saturday morning has ended in tragedy for a 44-year-old man.

Just before 8am, emergency services were called to the Pacific Highway, Cowper, after a two-vehicle collision. A Holden Colorado utility and Ford utility crashed head-on, resulting in the Ford driver’s death. In the Holden, the male driver and female passenger, both 19, were treated at the scene.

AUGUST 29: A MOTORCYCLIST died after a Holden Commodore ploughed into his bike at Waterview Heights. Preliminary investigations suggest the 60-year-old motorcyclist was travelling west on the Gwydir Highway when his bike was struck by a blue Holden Commodore turning from the highway onto Hillview Dr.

The rider was ejected from his motorcycle and landed almost 40m from the collision. He died on the way to hospital.

AUGUST 30: WITH NO space left to grow in its current location, it’s time for a new high school in the lower Clarence, according to a new group.

The New High School For Lower Clarence collective is asking the community to lobby government about the urgent need for a new purpose-built facility at a new location, equipped with the latest teaching resources and facilities.

AUGUST 31: THE NEXT stages of the Pacific Highway upgrade are running on schedule, according to Transport Minister Darren Chester.