Photo by Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
New details are emerging in the alleged sexual assault case involving Raiders first-round draft pick Gareon Conley that may contradict previous public statements made by witnesses.Conley is under investigation for an April 9th incident in a Cleveland hotel room in which a woman claims that Conley raped her. Conley has maintained his innocence, going so far as to take a polygraph test and release a statement claiming that several people in the room who witnessed the event gave statements to police corroborating Conley's version of events. Two of those witnesses, both friends and both male, said in their statements that nothing happened between Conley and the woman accusing him.After selecting Conley with the 24th overall pick, Oakland general manager Reggie McKenzie was adamant that the team did their "due diligence" and the selection "was based on research, and we are very confident in all the information that we gathered."According to TMZ Sports, however, Conley told investigators on Monday that he received "brief oral sex" from his accuser, which seemingly contradicts the accounts of Conley's two friends. Conley's lawyer Kevin Spellacy said "nothing that Gareon has said has been inconsistent."There may also be inconsistencies in the accuser's account. The woman originally told police that she met Conley in an elevator at the Cleveland Westin Hotel, but subsequent video released by TMZ shows them interacting at a bar about 25 minutes before she claims she met Conley.Whatever the result of the investigation, the on-field impact might be minimal. Because the alleged incident took place prior to the NFL Draft, the league has declared it will not administer any discipline no matter the outcome.