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 Cincinnati RB denies rape charge
Posted: Thursday May 13, 1999 04:48 PM
CINCINNATI (AP) -- University of Cincinnati football player DeMarco McCleskey pleaded innocent in court Thursday to a charge that he raped a fellow student in her dormitory room. McCleskey, 18, a freshman running back from Claremore, Okla., was released on a $10,000 bond Thursday from the Hamilton County Justice Center jail. His lawyer, John Burlew, denied the rape allegation. Burlew said it was a dispute between McCleskey and the 19-year-old woman which did not amount to a criminal offense. The university's athletic department announced Wednesday that McCleskey was suspended indefinitely from all sports activities for violating the department's policy. Under that policy, an athlete criminally charged with a crime of violence is suspended, school spokesman Tom Hathaway said. An athlete who is convicted of, or admits to, a crime of violence is dismissed from the athletic program, Hathaway said. University police arrested McCleskey on Wednesday. The woman told police that she had been asleep in bed in a campus dormitory early Sunday when McCleskey entered her room, held her down in bed and sexually engaged her even though she told him to stop. The woman said she knew McCleskey and had previously turned down his request for a date. McCleskey rushed for 861 yards and 11 touchdowns on 162 carries and led the Cincinnati Bearcats in rushing and scoring last season. He started the last four games of the season and gained a Conference USA-record 234 yards in a 24-21 loss to East Carolina.
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