Bills punter Matt Araiza and two college players face allegations of gang raping a 17-year-old

Buffalo Bills punter Matt Araiza is part of a group that has been alleged to have gang-raped a 17-year-old girl last season. This is according to a civil lawsuit that has been reported on by ESPN, among other outlets. 

The alleged incident, as reported by the Los Angeles Times, involves Araiza — who played football for the San Diego State Aztecs last season — San Diego State redshirt freshman Zavier Leonard, and SDSU sophomore Nowlin Ewaliko, who was a freshman for the Aztecs last season but is no longer named as part of the team's roster. 

Here's more from ESPN.

The lawsuit accuses Araiza, 22, of having sex with the then-high school senior outside at an off-campus party before bringing her inside a room where she was repeatedly raped, according to The Los Angeles Times. The lawsuit states that the minor went in and out of consciousness but remembers moments as the men took turns assaulting her, according to the Times.

The teen reported the rape to the San Diego police and an investigation was opened, but at the time no arrests were made or have been made since. The suspects weren't publicly identified initially, but detectives had to recently submit case findings to the district attorney's office, which will then determine whether or not to file charges.

Those findings, and the reporting of them, is presumably how we got here today.

"It's a shakedown because he's now with the Buffalo Bills," Araiza's lawyer Kerry Armstrong said. "There is no doubt in my mind that Matt Araiza ever raped that girl."

The attorney who filed the lawsuit and is presumably working on behalf of the alleged victim, Dan Gilleon, sees it differently.

"This was a horrific crime, the kind of which happens all too often,"  said Gilleon`. "What makes these crimes different is not only that they were committed by self-entitled athletes. Just as awful as the crimes, for months, multiple organizations — SDSU, the San Diego Police Department, the San Diego District Attorney, and now the Buffalo Bills — have acted the part of enablers looking the other way in denial that my client deserves justice even if the defendants are prized athletes."

And the Bills? It sounds like they're going to let this play out before commenting again.

"We were recently made aware of a civil complaint involving Matt from October 2021," the Bills said in a statement. "Due to the serious nature of the complaint, we conducted a thorough examination of this matter. As this is an ongoing civil case legal, we will have no other comment at this point."

The Bills drafted Araiza in the sixth round of this past NFL draft.