Villanova University Football Player Elijah Solomon Arrested For Attempted Sexual Assault In Dorm Room, Authorities Say
MEDIA, Pa. (CBS) -- A 19-year-old Villanova University football player is facing charges after authorities say he tried to sexually assault a female student inside his dorm room in 2019. Elijah Solomon is in jail tonight, unable to post the 10% of $250,000 bail.
Villanova Wildcats linebacker Elijah Solomon was arrested Tuesday morning on charges of attempted sexual assault, forcible compulsion and unlawful restraint.
"This is a very disturbing case where a football player, on campus, tried to force another student into having oral sex with him," Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said.
It was August 2019 when the accuser claimed Solomon texted her to come to his campus residence in Stanford Hall. There, court papers allege he made numerous and persistent demands for oral sex.
Police say Solomon then pinned her to a bed, and when she was able to get away, he pulled her back, threw her down, and again demanded oral sex.
It wasn't until police say she prayed the "Our Father" aloud, that Solomon allegedly told her she was doing too much and threw her against the door.
"She had to pray to our lord that she was going to be safe. He did attempt to commit a sexual assault against her. That's wrong, it's illegal, we're going to try and hold him accountable. That's why we're bringing these charges today," Stollsteimer said.
Stollsteimer says the alleged victim in the case first told her resident assistant about the August 2019 incident a couple of weeks after it happened. But arrest papers show, at that time, she did not wish to file a report.
A year later, arrest papers show the university's Title IX coordinator solicited the student to file a report with the university police department, which she did.
It wasn't until police say Solomon harassed her and called her demeaning names recently to people on campus that she decided to press charges.
"He tried to victimize her forcefully in a sexual context in his dorm room but then he repeatedly victimized her by harassing her on a small campus where she happens to live with him," Stollsteimer said.
Villanova University released a statement which reads, in part: "Solomon has been removed from campus. There is no place for sexual misconduct of any kind on Villanova's campus or in our community. These acts constitute the deepest affront to University standards and will not be tolerated in any form."
Solomon has been indefinitely suspended from the football program.
Also, separately, police continue to investigate reported sex assault incidents from last week, remain under investigation.