Former Nebraska Football Player Katerian LeGrone Found Not Guilty of Sexual Assault

Former Nebraska football player Katerian LeGrone was found not guilty of sexual assault in court Thursday.

According to ESPN's Paula Lavigne, a female student said LeGrone and fellow former Nebraska football player Andre Hunt sexually assaulted her at an apartment in the Lincoln, Nebraska, area in August 2019.

LeGrone and Hunt, who were dismissed from the football team in 2019 and the school in 2020, were found responsible for assaulting the woman by the University of Nebraska after it investigated a Title IX complaint made by the woman.

Both LeGrone and Hunt were subsequently charged with first-degree sexual assault.

Per Lavigne, the woman said she accepted Hunt's invitation to join him at his apartment on Aug. 25, 2019. She said Hunt began having sex with her without her consent, but she did not resist because she felt pressured and scared.

The woman added that at one point, LeGrone stepped in and began having sex with her while her head was under some blankets. Again, the woman said she did not consent.

Defense attorney Mallory Hughes asked the woman why she didn't verbally tell LeGrone or Hunt to stop. The woman said LeGrone raped her for 15 minutes, and when asked what she did to get LeGrone to stop, she said she "prayed."

As part of her closing arguments, Hughes said:

"You can't assume he should've known she didn't want to have sex. She saw him. He started having sex with her, and she didn't do anything about it. The law does not require this young man to read her mind.

"Our law says that women have a duty to resist. When they see somebody approaching them they have to say, 'Stop, get out.'"

According to Lavigne, LeGrone initially told police he did not have sex with the woman before admitting he did. He also said the woman gave him consent, but after Hunt testified in exchange for his charges getting changed to two misdemeanors for accessory to attempted false imprisonment and false information, he said he never heard the woman give LeGrone consent.

The 21-year-old LeGrone joined the Nebraska football program in 2018 after playing tight end at The B.E.S.T. Academy in Atlanta.

LeGrone redshirted in 2018 and did not appear in any games during the 2019 season before his dismissal from the team.

Both LeGrone and Hunt are currently listed as active in the transfer portal.