LOGAN, Utah — A Utah State University football player was arrested Monday for allegedly raping another student, as well as selling Adderall on campus.
Kingsley Holliday, 22, faces multiple first-degree felonies including knowingly producing a controlled substance, aggravated kidnapping, rape and forcible sodomy. He was booked into the Cache County Jail, where he is being held without bail.
Arresting documents detail that in September 2022, a woman in the emergency room reported she had been raped while at an event.
While at the venue, the woman said a man who was unknown to her took her against her will to a separate location and dragged her out of the building, across a parking lot, road and ditch. She told police that after being dragged away, she was forcibly sodomized and raped.
During the subsequent investigation, witnesses said Holliday was at the event and DNA evidence from the woman matched with Holliday, documents state.
Utah State University stated that as soon as they learned of the arrest, Holliday was "immediately dismissed" from the team.
“USU Athletics is proactive in taking a comprehensive approach in building a culture of safety and respect,” USU interim athletics director Jerry Bovee said in a statement. “Our student-athletes are trained and educated numerous times annually as it relates to sexual conduct, and we unequivocally will not tolerate any violations of the law.”
Holliday spent his sophomore season at Utah State University on the football team, although he did not play in any games.
"Kingsley was taken into custody and interviewed about the incident," police wrote in the arrest report. "He denied any involvement, but was concerned that the victim might be pregnant."
For USU alum Kaytriauna Flint, his arrest brings up traumatic memories from the past several years.
“I’m physically shaky right now,” she said in a Tuesday interview, “It scares me for every single student on that campus. It scares me for the athletes because here we are again with another athlete who is the perpetrator of these crimes. When is this going to stop?”
Flint has since settled a lawsuit she filed against the school saying USU failed to help her after she was sexually assaulted by a football player.
“It’s impossible to not imagine like what I went through and it's impossible to not imagine like this happening again,” said Flint, “Because I just feel like it's been handled so carelessly in the past that, I don't know, I don't have any trust in their systems.”
The school is also currently being sued by former player Patrick Maddox, who claims he experienced retaliation from coaches and teammates when he tried to speak out.
He shared recordings in 2021 of former USU Police Chief Earl Morris addressing the Utah State Football team with head coach Blake Anderson.
“A Latter-day Saint community [inaudible]… young lady, they may have sex with you,” Morris is heard saying, “I don’t know what’s gonna happen after, but they’re going to talk with their minister, bishop, priest, whatever you want to call them, [laughter]. She’s just gonna say, she’s gonna say, ‘wasn’t consensual.’"
In response to Holliday’s arrest, Maddox released this statement: “It’s extremely frustrating to see people continue to get hurt by players. Despite all that has happened with my case and others this past year the problem continues to go unsolved. At a certain point one has to ask if the university is doing everything in its power to protect its students because this issue doesn’t seem to be as prevalent at other universities.”
Flint said she hopes survivors of sexual assault speak out.
“I want to encourage people to reach out to each other and to support each other and especially the students on Utah State's campus, support each other, believe each other stand together and fight for change.”
University leaders said their Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards investigates when a student is arrested for a sex crime and will determine appropriate discipline.
Students may face a spectrum of disciplinary action, including dismissal, the university said in an email to FOX 13 News.
A statement from the university also encouraged individuals to report incidents of sexual misconduct to the Office of Equity.
Holliday's controlled substance charge comes from May when a confidential informant told police they could purchase Adderall from him. Officials arranged with the informant to conduct a controlled buy, where the informant met with Holliday at a prearranged location and the exchange happened, according to the arresting documents.
