The Kobe Bryant sexual assault case began on July 18, , when the news media reported that the sheriff's office in Eagle, Colorado , had arrested then-professional basketball player Kobe Bryant in connection with an investigation of a sexual assault complaint, [ 1 ] [ 2 ] filed by a year-old hotel employee. In , the sheriff's office in Eagle, Colorado , arrested Bryant in connection with an investigation of a sexual assault complaint.
Richard Steadman. A year-old hotel employee accused Bryant of raping her in his hotel room on July 1. She filed a police report and authorities questioned Bryant about bruising on the accuser's neck. Bryant admitted to a sexual encounter with his accuser but insisted the sex was consensual.
The case was dropped after Bryant's accuser refused to testify in the case. A separate civil suit was later filed against Bryant by the woman. The suit was settled out of court and included Bryant publicly apologizing to his accuser, the public, and family, while denying the allegations. Eagle County Sheriff investigators confronted Bryant with the sexual assault accusation on July 2. When the officers told Bryant that she had taken an exam that yielded physical evidence, such as semen, Bryant admitted to having sexual intercourse with her, but stated that the sex was consensual.
When asked how hard he was holding onto her neck, Bryant stated, "My hands are strong. I don't know. Law enforcement officials collected evidence from Bryant and he agreed to submit to a rape test kit and a voluntary polygraph test. Bryant flew from Los Angeles back to Eagle, Colorado, to surrender to police. If convicted, Bryant faced probation to life in prison. On July 18, after he was formally charged, Bryant held a news conference in which he adamantly denied having raped the woman.
He admitted to having an adulterous sexual encounter with her but insisted it was consensual. In December , pre-trial hearings were conducted to consider motions about the admissibility of evidence. During those hearings, the prosecution accused Bryant's defense team of attacking his accuser's credibility. Bryant's defense stated that the exam results showed "compelling evidence of innocence" because the accuser must have had another sexual encounter immediately after the incident. She told investigators that she grabbed dirty underwear by mistake from her laundry basket when she left her home for the examination.
