The alleged victim who claims she was sexually assaulted by Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston released an alarming statement through her family’s attorney on Wednesday. According to the release, the victim identified Winston as her attacker in January after she was “raped by an unknown person” on Dec. 7, 2012. From that point, she claims authorities discouraged her from pursuing charges against the freshman phenom.
“We requested assistance from an attorney friend to interact with law enforcement on the victim’s behalf,” the victim’s family said in a statement, via the Tampa Bay Times. “When the attorney contacted Detective (Scott) Angulo immediately after Winston was identified, Detective Angulo told the attorney that Tallahassee was a big football town and the victim needs to think long and hard before proceeding against him because she will be raked over the coals and her life will be made miserable.”
The family also alleged that Angulo refused to collect Winston’s DNA or interview his roommate, who is said to have witnessed the attack. Angulo allegedly stated that “such activity would alert Winston and the matter would go public.” The family claims it repeatedly attempted to obtain blood work results from Angulo and the Tallahassee Police Departments victim advocate and was led to believe that only law enforcement was aware of the alleged crime.
Instead, the victim’s family says the victim was “devastated” last week when she learned that investigators had informed Winston of the accusations last February. The family is shocked that Winston’s defense will have been given this much time to prepare its case, time they say was not given to the state attorney’s office. The statement ended with questions that the family wants answered now that the case has gone public against their will.
The questions dealt with why DNA evidence wasn’t collected and why Winston was not interviewed as part of a proper investigation. They also want to know why Winston was not listed as a suspect in the police report once the victim identified him in early January. In addition, the victim’s family is asking why a copy of the police report was given to the Florida State Police Department when Winston’s attorney represents the school’s football team.
There are two sides to every story, but the victim’s side clearly makes things look very ugly for all of those involved. If it is determined that the victim was discouraged from pursuing the case because Winston is a prominent athlete, there could be a massive investigation.
