Lawyer for Matt Araiza’s gang rape accuser slams Buffalo Bills for ‘badly botching response’

The lawyer for the alleged victim accusing now-former Buffalo Bills punter Matt Araiza of participating in a gang-rape last year is slamming the franchise for ‘botching’ the response to the accusation.   

Araiza, 22, has been accused along with two others of gang raping a 17-year-old girl last year in a civil lawsuit filed on Thursday and was released by the team on Saturday.

Dan Gilleon, the attorney for the accuser, found the move cowardly and trashed the team’s entire response to the allegations. 

He told The Buffalo News: ‘The Buffalo Bills had no choice but to cut their young punter after so badly botching their response to our claim: they ignored us, as though what I warned them would happen could be avoided if they just kept their heads in the sand. This is what enablers do.’

Gilleon, who also gave legal advice to a friend of Trevor Bauer’s accuser regarding claims she made against the star, added his client was ‘forever scarred’ and was critical of Araiza’s lawyer, Kerry Thompson, for saying she was after money.  

Gilleon said: ‘Not once did she express to me a desire to hurt her assaulters out of revenge or hatred.

‘She never asked for a pound of flesh. Her only ask was the kind of justice that might save other young women from the hell she experienced.’

He’s also made several disparaging tweets toward the team and Araiza and his representatives, saying: ‘I’ve never seen a more grotesque handling of a series claim in my entire career.’ Araiza was finally cut by the team on Saturday.  

Bills’ GM Brandon Beane said at a press conference: ‘This is bigger than football. Our culture in Buffalo is more important than winning football games.

‘We sympathize with this whole situation, all the parties involved, this young woman and what she went through. Ultimately this is a legal situation, we don’t know all the facts. That’s what makes it hard.

‘But at this time we just think it’s the best move from everyone to move on from Matt and let him take care of this situation and focus on that. We’re going to part ways there.

‘It’s a very serious situation, a serious nature and allegations. We don’t have the means to put the facts together. We are trying to do the best we could, be thoughtful and not rush to judgement.

‘How transparent was Matt? Matt gave us his version of events, that is where it’s at. There were many things we could not get our hands on through the resources we have.’

Beane said the Bills were unaware of the situation around Azaria before the NFL Draft in April.

‘We’ve reached out to I can tell you double digit teams at this point, and no one had anything on this,’ Beane said. ‘These names were sealed, wherever the investigation was at that point. 

‘Yes, if we had this, and we get things like this from guys, you know how important the character and the culture is to Sean (McDermott) and me and anything that would have been lingering, that would have been off our board.’ 

The Bills made the decision not to dress Araiza during the team’s final preseason game Friday against the Carolina Panthers after head coach Sean McDermott stated ‘he learned new details’.

‘I would say there has been some (new detail in the last 24 hours), I’m not going to deny that and that’s why I have more work to do on this,’ McDermott said. ‘I’m trying to be solution oriented right now.

‘It was my decision (for him not to play). I didn’t feel it was right. I made the decision at some point today, I felt it was the right thing to do and that’s what we are after. 

‘It’s not easy to hear about some of the things that I’ve heard about in the last several hours and I haven’t slept a lot to be honest with you. 

‘This is a game but there are other things more important than this.’

Araiza put out a statement while the Bills were playing on Friday, which said: ‘The facts of the incident are not what they are portrayed in the lawsuit or in the press. I look forward to quickly setting the record straight.’

According to McDermott the team did not know Araiza was planning to release a statement at that time. 

The lawsuit, filed in San Diego County Superior Court, accuses Araiza, Zavier Leonard and Nowlin ‘Pa’a’ Ewaliko of gang raping a then-17-year-old girl at a Halloween party.

The plaintiff, now 18, is identified in the complaint as ‘Jane Doe’ because she was underage at the time. 

There is a criminal investigation into the allegations, according to the Los Angeles Times, which first reported the lawsuit. No arrests have been made and San Diego Police have not publicly identified any suspects. 

Araiza would not be subject to the NFL personal conduct policy over the alleged rape because it took place in 2021, before he was a league player. 

The lawsuit states that the teen had been drinking with friends when they decided to go to the party on October 17 and she was ‘observably intoxicated upon arrival.’ She became separated from her friends and was approached by Araiza who offered her a drink, according to the lawsuit. 

She believes the drink ‘not only contained alcohol, but other intoxicating substances,’ the complaint said. 

She told Araiza, who was 21 at the time, that she was a high school senior, according to the lawsuit. She alleges he then led her to a side yard where he asked her to perform oral sex and then had sex with her before taking her to a bedroom in the home. 

There were at least three other men in the room, including Leonard and Ewaliko, according to the complaint. The lawsuit states that Araiza threw the teen onto the bed and she went in and out of consciousness while she was being raped. It added, ‘but she does remember some moments from the horrific gang rape.’

After an hour-and-a-half, the teen ‘stumbled out of the room bloody and crying,’ according to the complaint. Her nose, belly button, and ear piercings had been pulled out.

She immediately told her friends about the rape and the next day reported it to police and underwent a rape exam, according to the lawsuit. Officers coached her on calling Araiza, which she did 10 days later as detectives recorded it, according to the complaint.

During the call, Araiza acknowledged having sex with her, the lawsuit states, but later, when she asked him ‘And did we have actual sex?’ he responded ‘This is Matt Araiza. I don’t remember anything that happened that night’ and hung up.

But before getting off the phone, Araiza did tell Doe to get tested for chlamydia. 

REVEALED: Two NFL teams WERE aware Matt Araiza was involved in an incident before April’s draft, where the Buffalo Bills signed him… but it was not known that he is accused of gang-raping a 17-year-old

Two NFL teams were aware Matt Araiza had been involved in an incident in the lead-up to the NFL draft in April.

That’s according to the Associated Press, who say executives from two different NFL teams knew of something concerning the 22-year-old but did not know the extent of the allegations.

The Buffalo Bills, however, knew nothing and signed Araiza in the sixth round of the draft. They released him on Saturday, days after it emerged he has been accused of being involved in the gang rape of a 17-year-old last year, alongside two of his then team-mates at San Diego State.

The Bills did know Araiza was subject of a police investigation, however, when they released Matt Haack – Araiza’s rival for the punter role in the team – on Monday.

The victim’s lawyer, Dan Gilleon, claimed the Bills ignored concerns he raised about Araiza when contacting the team in late July.

‘The Buffalo Bills had no choice but to cut their young punter after so badly botching their response to our claim,’ Gilleon said in a statement carried by The Buffalo News. ‘They ignored us, (when) I warned them would happen could be avoided if they just kept their heads in the sand. This is what enablers do.’

The Bills began distancing themselves from Araiza as early as Friday, when he was held out from playing. He instead watched the game from an undisclosed location in the stadium rather than from the sideline along with his teammates.

On Saturday, Araiza was not present for practice even though the Bills said he was on his roster, while at the same time his No. 19 jersey was no longer available for sale on the Bills´ online store after being listed earlier in the day.

Araiza’s only comment since the lawsuit was filed came in a statement released by his agent during the game Friday.

‘The facts of the incident are not what they are portrayed in the lawsuit or in the press. I look forward to quickly setting the record straight,’ Araiza said.

In a text to The AP, Araiza´s lawyer, Kerry Armstrong, defended his client by writing: ‘I am sure he is very upset and disappointed that his career with the Bills ended not because he played poorly, but because of false allegations leveled against him by a young lady and her attorney. I hope he is back in the NFL soon.’ 

Bills general manager Brandon Beane said it was unclear who – Araiza or the victim´s lawyer, Gilleon – first informed the team of the allegations. As for the decision to not contact Gilleon for more information, Beane said the team’s attorney, Kathryn D´Angelo, ‘had heard what he had to say, and that´s when we began our process.’

Beane said Araiza’s version of what happened never changed.

‘We’re not perfect. But I can tell you, we just tried to do what was right,’ Beane said. ‘In our heart of hearts, I can lay my head down at night knowing that I’ve tried to do what’s right.’

The Bills also informed the NFL of the incident once they were made aware of it, a person familiar with the situation told The AP. The person, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter, wasn´t certain of the timeline.

The NFL declined to comment except to say it was aware of the matter.