Rugby star-turned-NFL player Jarryd Hayne was found guilty of sexual assault in his home country of Australia on Monday.
Hayne was convicted of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent after he assaulted a 26-year-old woman at her home in 2018. A judge granted him $50,000 bail and called it “inevitable” that Hayne will end up in jail. Hayne said he plans to appeal the decision, according to Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News.
Hayne was arrested for sexual assault in November 2018. The victim said her original encounter with Hayne was consensual but he then sexually assaulted her at her home. She said she refused to consent to sex because Hayne had a taxi waiting outside her home.
“Like my heart dropped because I felt like he had only come there for one thing,” the victim said in court, via FOX Sports. “Like why would you get (the taxi driver) to wait outside for you for 20 minutes. I felt saddened because I felt like he must have only seen me in one type of way.”
The victim said Hayne sexually assaulted her despite her attempts to stop him and left her with a serious injury. Hayne maintained that the sex was consensual and that the injury surprised him as much as her. He admitted that the woman was not happy about the taxi waiting outside her home but said she did not say “stop” or “no” at any stage.
Hayne is facing up to 14 years in prison. He maintains his innocence.
“I’d rather go to jail knowing I spoke the truth than be a free man living a lie. I was straight up from the start,” Hayne told reporters after the conviction. “It’s unfortunate, it’s disappointing, but at the end of the day they’ve come to a decision, I respect that.”
Hayne is a well-known rugby star in Australia, and the 30-year-old signed with the San Francisco 49ers in March of 2015. He rushed for 52 yards on 17 carries and caught six passes for 27 yards during his career. He announced his retirement in May of 2016 and returned to rugby after citing his unwillingness to learn a new playbook when the Niners hired Chip Kelly.
Hayne was also previously sued by a woman who says he raped her in 2015. He was not charged in that case but reached a $100,000 settlement in the civil lawsuit in 2019.
