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Former Missouri running back Derrick Washington was convicted Wednesday of sexually assaulting a former tutor who said he attacked her in her sleep.
The jury deliberated 2 1/2 hours after a two-day trial before delivering its verdict late Wednesday afternoon. Washington faces a possible seven-year prison sentence.
The tutor and her former roommate testified that in June 2010 Washington entered the woman's bedroom while she slept at her off-campus apartment and fondled her without permission. The roommate, also a former tutor for Missouri athletes, had a consensual sexual relationship with Washington.
Washington, a Kansas City prep star, was Missouri's leading rusher as a sophomore and junior until he was kicked off the team before his senior year after the accusations surfaced. He did not testify in his own defense.
Washington's accuser is a 24-year-old Missouri graduate who spent two semesters as his athletic department tutor before the alleged assault in June 2010. She was identified by name in court, but The Associated Press generally does not name alleged victims of sexual assault. The woman moved out-of-state after the incident.
Washington was visiting the ex-tutor's roommate -- also a former Missouri athletics tutor -- at the time and acknowledged going into the other woman's room and initiating the sexual encounter, prosecutors said.
Lauren Gavin, the woman's roommate, testified earlier Wednesday that Washington jokingly made a crude remark about the encounter minutes later but that she dismissed the comment as an attempt to make her jealous. The two had an ongoing, consensual sexual relationship.
Gavin acknowledged under cross-examination that she did not initially tell campus police about Washington's alleged actions, both out of a sense of loyalty and because she felt ashamed after speaking to the same two university detectives about an alleged sex assault of her by another Missouri athlete. No charges were filed in that case.
Instead, Gavin said she confided in several friends, including Missouri receiver T. J. Moe, before coming forward in September 2010, after criminal charges were filed against Washington.
"Part of the reason I didn't say anything in the first place was I felt I had some allegiance to Derrick," she testified, fighting back tears. "He was my friend too. I lost two friends."
Washington's defense attorneys suggested Gavin and the accuser could have concocted the assault out of spite toward Missouri athletes, whom his accuser said created a "horrific" environment with unwanted sexual banter while part of the school's tutoring program for athletes.
Defense attorneys also argued that the accuser's judgment was clouded after drinking as many as 12 beers earlier that night. The woman testified she had seven drinks but was only slightly drunk.
Washington had been named a co-captain before the start of the 2010 season. He was allowed to keep his scholarship but soon withdrew from school and moved back home
He also faces two misdemeanor domestic assault charges involving an ex-girlfriend who accused Washington of poking her eyes and choking her during an argument in a case scheduled to go to trial next week. He has pleaded not guilty in both cases.
