A Villanova football player from Maryland is being charged with assault for an alleged attack that occurred on the Main Line campus in Sept. 2019, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said Tuesday.
Iyanu Elijah Solomon, who is 19 and from Reistertown, Maryland, according to the Villanova football team's player profiles, was identified as the suspect, the Stollsteimer told NBC10.
The victim reported the alleged attack to a residential assistant shortly after the alleged attack in 2019, but declined to press charges at that time, according to the criminal complaint affidavit by the Villanova police chief that was made public Tuesday.
Last year, however, Villanova's Title IX coordinator told campus police that the victim had told him of the alleged attack, according to the affidavit. That's when campus police in August 2020 began an investigation.
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The victim was interviewed at that time, but again declined to press charges, the affidavit said.
On Feb. 28, this year, however, the victim said she wanted to press charges after continued harassment by Solomon, the affidavit said.
On March 5, the victim was again interviewed, this time by the Delaware County district attorney's office. She detailed the alleged assault that occurred in Solomon's dorm room, the affidavit said.
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It is not immediately clear if Solomon has been detained or has an attorney.
Stollsteimer, the DA, said he does not believe Solomon is connected to another investigation that his office is leading into five recent sexual assaults on Villanova's campus.
