SAN DIEGO — Ex-San Diego State punter Matt Araiza filed a defamation lawsuit on July 28 against the woman accusing him and several other football players of raping her at an off-campus house party when she was 17.
Araiza said he had consensual sex with the woman, who he alleges told several people at the party that she was 18, according to the complaint filed in San Diego Superior Court.
The woman, who is suing Araiza and four other men, has stated in her sexual assault lawsuit that she had sex with Araiza outside the home where an October 2021 party was being held, then was brought into a bedroom where a group of men raped her while she was heavily intoxicated.
Araiza, who was cut by the Buffalo Bills last August after the allegations surfaced, alleges that he left the party before the alleged incident occurred.
Last year, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office announced no criminal charges would be filed in connection with the allegations.
In Araiza’s complaint, he claims the woman “boasted” to a friend about having sex with Araiza. She then had consensual sex with other men after Araiza had already left the party, his complaint states.
His lawsuit alleges that she subsequently defamed Araiza by making false statements to San Diego police and several news outlets.
Though Araiza stated in a televised interview on HBO that he intended to sue one of the woman’s attorneys, Dan Gilleon, for defamation, his complaint only lists the woman as a defendant.
The suit comes a few weeks after a judge indicated he might approve a request from Araiza’s lawyers to delve into the woman’s sexual history in connection with her sexual assault lawsuit. That same judge also approved a separate request to allow sexually graphic videos allegedly depicting the woman to be viewed by Araiza’s legal team, as well as those of his co-defendants.
