Katelyn Faber

The Kobe Bryant sexual assault case began in July 2003 when the news media reported that the sheriff's office in Eagle, Colorado had arrested professional basketball player Kobe Bryant in connection with an investigation of a sexual assault complaint filed by a 19-year-old hotel employee. Bryant had checked into The Lodge and Spa at Cordillera, a hotel in Edwards, Colorado, on June 30 in advance of having surgery near there on July 2 under Dr. Richard Steadman. The woman accused Bryant of raping her in his hotel room on July 1, the night before the surgery.

Bryant admitted to an adulterous sexual encounter with his accuser, but denied the assault allegation. 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. This was settled out of court and included Bryant's publicly apologizing to his accuser, though admitting no guilt on his part.

Eagle County Sheriff investigators first confronted Bryant with the sexual assault accusation on July 2. During the July 2003 interview with investigators, Bryant initially lied about the encounter, telling investigators that he did not have sexual intercourse with Faber. When the officers told Bryant that Faber had taken an exam that yielded physical evidence, such as semen, Bryant admitted to having sexual intercourse with Faber, but stated that the sex was consensual. When asked about bruises on Faber's neck, Bryant admitted to "strangling" her during the encounter, stating that held her "from the back" "around her neck," that strangling during sex was his "thing" and that he had a pattern of strangling a different sex partner (not his wife) during their recurring sexual encounters. When asked how hard he was holding onto her neck, Bryant stated "My hands are strong. I don't know." Bryant stated that he assumed consent for sex because of Faber's body language such as her kissing him, putting her hand on his penis and bending over, but that he did not explicitly ask for her consent during the encounter. Bryant later contradicted that statement saying he believed Faber was capable of saying no because during the encounter he asked her if he could "cum on her face" and she said no.

Law enforcement officials collected evidence from Bryant and he agreed to submit to a rape test kit and a voluntary lie detector test. On July 4, Sheriff Joe Hoy issued an arrest warrant for Bryant. Bryant flew from Los Angeles back to Eagle, Colorado to surrender to police. He was immediately released on $25,000 bond, and news of the arrest became public two days after that. On July 18, the Eagle County District Attorney's office filed a formal charge against Bryant for sexual assault. If convicted, Bryant faced probation to life in prison.

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Wikipedia