Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura, who started at Washington State for two seasons, settles sexual assault case from high school

Former Washington State quarterback Jayden de Laura and Wisconsin safety Kamo’i Latu have agreed to settle a civil lawsuit alleging that the two sexually assaulted a young woman in 2018 when the men were teammates at Saint Louis School in Hawaii.

Hawaii News Now first reported the settlement on Wednesday.

De Laura, the starting quarterback at Arizona, and Latu have paid a woman who claimed the two had sexually assaulted her after a high school football game in Honolulu on Oct. 27, 2018, according to the report. The three individuals were minors at the time of the alleged incident.

The woman filed the complaint in December 2021 – less than a week after de Laura helped WSU to a win at Washington – according to the Arizona Daily Star. De Laura played in the Cougars’ season finale, a loss to Central Michigan in the Sun Bowl on Dec. 31, then transferred out of the program in January 2022.

De Laura and Latu were charged with second-degree sexual assault in juvenile court and later pleaded guilty, per court documents obtained by Hawaii News Now. The parties involved began a mediations process last December and reached settlements for undisclosed amounts, according to the Daily Star.

The victim was reportedly “an acquaintance of (de Laura) and other members of the (Saint Louis) team,” per court documents. The assault allegedly occurred after a championship game between Saint Louis and Punahou in October 2018. The girl, her mother and a friend had traveled to attend the game.

After the game, the girl received a text from de Laura inquiring about her location, according to court documents. De Laura asked the girl to meet him on a stairwell of a parking structure connected to Saint Louis School “because he needed to ‘talk’ to her,” per the claim obtained by the Daily Star. The girl went to meet de Laura while her mother and friend waited in a car nearby.

The claim says the girl encountered de Laura and Latu in the stairwell, and the men demanded she “engage in sex with the two of them simultaneously, immediately,” per the reports. When she refused, the men “physically overpowered” her and forced her to commit sex acts, according to court documents. De Laura allegedly choked the plaintiff, who was “sobbing uncontrollably in fear and anger,” per the claim. De Laura let her go after she refused to participate further, and the girl returned to the car and left, according to court documents included in the reports.

The girl told her mother that she had been sexually assaulted by de Laura and Latu, per court documents. The alleged victim was encouraged to alert authorities, but “felt ashamed and embarrassed … like she wouldn’t be believed,” according to the court filing obtained by the Daily Star. The girl confronted de Laura via text message, per the reports, and de Laura admitted he and Latu had sexually assaulted her, and later apologized.

The girl showed authorities the text exchange between herself and de Laura and made a police report in December 2018, according to court records included in the reports. The men did not receive jail time and were ordered to write apology letters. The criminal case went through the juvenile court system, but a civil lawsuit was filed against the families of de Laura and Latu, and Saint Louis School, for “assault, false imprisonment and negligence,” according to the reports.

Attorney Michael Green, who represents Latu, told Hawaii News Now: “In my view, this case was better not to be tried.

“For closure for him, certainly closure for this young woman … we just wanted my client to go on with his life, let her go on with her life.”

Green told Hawaii News Now that the settlement is not an admission of guilt and he would not comment on the juvenile criminal case. Latu and his attorneys said the incident was consensual, according to court documents obtained by the Daily Star. De Laura filed no response to the claim.

De Laura became WSU’s starting quarterback as a true freshman in 2020. After the season, in February 2021, he was arrested on suspicion of DUI. De Laura was suspended by the team but later found not guilty. He reclaimed starting duties in the fall.

The Pac-12’s offensive freshman of the year in 2021, de Laura helped guide the Cougars to a winning record after the midseason firing of coach Nick Rolovich, who was dismissed in October for failing to comply with a state COVID-19 vaccine requirement. Rolovich, the former head coach at Hawaii, played a part in de Laura’s recruitment and mentored the quarterback.

De Laura entered the transfer portal on Jan. 7, 2022. He signed with Arizona less than a week later. Last year, in his first season with the Wildcats, De Laura passed for 3,685 yards – sixth in the nation. WSU had four interceptions against de Laura during a 31-20 Cougars win on Nov. 19 in Tucson.

Washington State declined to comment.