R*pe Vultures
In a disturbing manner, the number of reported r@pes has increased at universities across Utah. What will stop this alarming trend?
The idea that a rape vulture may exist and may be more than just a part of rape culture is frightening, is it not?
To think that females have just as little power over their environments as they did 10 years ago, and that male student-athletes are more than willing to manipulate the spaces in which they and a woman share is hard to explain in mere words.
Besides, you would think that after centuries of suffering at the feet of men that women would've made more inroads. Apparently, that has not always been the case.
Whether or not the allegiations set forth against BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff are true—and nobody's to know this for at least the next year or even two unless someone else comes forth and files a criminal complaint—the fact that such a graphic account of that which he's alleged to have done in this civil court filing is reason enough to think that either it's happening more often than we think—or females have enough info of the scene to conjure up stories that are untrue.
Sexual assaults by male student-athletes have continued at an alarming rate of frequency, dating back to 2019 and 2020 when two Utah Utes football players were charged with rapes less than a year apart.
Sione Lund, then a Utah linebacker, was charged with a sexual assault of Utah Valley University student Marissa Lund at a September 2019 house party held at—Lund’s home. In a Salt Lake Tribune report, Root said the University of Utah staff told her this:
“At the U., staff said there was nothing they could do for her, either. They told her their obligation was instead to the player, because he was their student, Root said, and never even asked for his name.
In fact, the U. only wanted to know the player’s identity months later, she recalls, after another football player at the university had been accused of raping a minor. They asked then if he was the same student she had said attacked her. When she said he wasn’t, they didn’t contact her again.”
So, Root filed a lawsuit against both Utah and UVU—and the Utah System of Higher Education, or USHE. (More about the outcome of those suits, later in the article.)
And yet the January 23, 2020 charges of rape of a 17-year-old girl by Utah wide receiver Terrell Perriman, 20, led to an immediate suspension by head coach Kyle whittingham upon learning of the arrest at an off campus apartment. His statement:
“Obviously, this does not reflect the values and standards of our program and we will continue to monitor the situation as it moves through the legal process," he said. "We are cooperating with the authorities and university personnel and will continue to assist as requested. Due to the ongoing legal proceedings, we are unable to comment further at this time.”
Lest you think the reports of rape by student-athletes were over and done with at the University of Utah, you would be wrong.
In mid-August 2022, Utah Utes diver Ben Smyth [far right in video cover photo], who was from Canada, decided to play a game to up the ante. When he met a student earlier that day at the U., and the girl invited him up to her dorm room where she was alone, and Smyth advanced upon her, the girl said no. He refused to take it for an answer despite the fact Smyth was not in his own dorm room. The game? “Truth Or Dare.”
And, lest anyone think it couldn’t get any worse, and that a select number of student-athletes don’t think they think they can get what they want out of women, there is the most recent case of Utes tennis player and Macedonian Berk Bugarikj, who allegedly performed details so graphic from an alleged November 2024 meeting that a girl was sexually assaulted three times inside the man’s home. Utah did act upon this swiftly, immediately suspending Bukarijk—and then suspending him for a second time on learning even more about the incidents.
“We are aware of the criminal charges filed against a men’s tennis student-athlete. Upon initially learning in November 2024 of an accusation against the student-athlete, the Athletics Department immediately suspended the student-athlete. In January 2025, when no charges had been filed against the student-athlete, the suspension was lifted with the condition that it would be reapplied should charges be filed in the case.
We treat allegations of significant misconduct very seriously, and the student-athlete has again been suspended.”
The idea that a rape vulture may exist and may have to be more than just hearsay to a court is frightening. But, it may not be limited to just student-athletes.
In 2021, 1 in 4 student-athletes, or 25 percent of 1,500 surveyed across America, reported they have been sexually assaulted by those in positions of power at those universities. To that end, and according to a 2016 report by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, “26.5 percent of females will experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation during their time in college.”
One university in Utah turned a blind eye to this activity before 2015, resulting in a federal investigation at Utah State that included but was not limited to linebacker Torrey Green, who initially was alleged to have been involved in four sexual assaults in 2015 initially, then was charged with seven, and was found after this Salt Lake Tribune report to have possibly been part of as many as fourteen after more girls came forward to Logan, Utah police.
If you want to know what else happened to Sione Lund, for example, after his sexual assault of UVU student Marissa Root, he accepted a plea deal in 2023.
Lund served 30 days in jail and is completing a four-year probation set to end in 2027. Root, by the way, had all three cases against UVU, Utah and the USHE dismissed by U.S. District Court Judge David Barlow in March 2025 because the rape occurred “off-campus,” and therefore the universities had no “control” over the incident. [Root had also sued the three institutions due to alleged violations of Title IX.]
In the case of Utah diver Ben Smyth and his little game, what did the university do? Nothing, until February 2023. They even let him continue diving until Feb. 10. Upon being charged, what did Smyth do?
The 19-year-old tried fleeing back to his native Canada, even.
Smyth eventually was ordered to return to the U.S.—Seattle, in particular. He is a resident of nearby British Columbia, and now faces charges of rape, a first-degree felony; forcible sodomy, a first-degree felony; and forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony. And, nobody is saying word one about whether or not he’d been extradited. [Smyth’s case is scheduled to go to trial later this year at the earliest.]
If you’re a male student-athlete you are not often treated like an ordinary citizen.
You get special privileges and plea deals, and for the most part avoid lengthy prison sentences, teaching little to the youth that grow up emulating your every move—other than knowing that they could possibly get away with rape, too.
Only in the case of Utah State linebacker Torrey Green, now serving 26-years-to-life in a Utah prison for a minimum seven sexual assaults on women, has the Utah state justice system sent a clear message—helped by the direct involvement of U.S. federal investigators in university business.
Otherwise, communication has been muddled between victims and universities, interfered with by legal teams designed to protect university interests that continue to harvest the hundreds of millions of dollars college athletic programs around Utah generate.
In the case of Jake Retzlaff’s attorney, he says the BYU QB is “a nice young boy.” That will obviously depend on the outcome of Retzlaff’s civil trial, set to begin after he’s graduated from the Provo school and possibly, the NFL.
Will this male preference change, ever? Will women ever get the protection they deserve? Apparently, that depends on the number of charges a student-athlete is facing, and whether or not federal authorities are involved and investigating.
Overthink This Photo 📸
Your Utah Jazz are getting closer to deciding who or whom will be picked with the No. 5 pick at the 2025 NBA Draft. One name that has popped up on radars? Duke forward Kon Knueppel, who [above in photo] has a nice inside-outside game and reminds you of the one and only cult hero, “Jingling Joe” Ingles.
Knueppel, who played at Wisconsin before transferring to Duke, can really stroke the 3-ball, a la No. 2 and averaged 14 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Considering Rutgers guard Ace Bailey said he doesn’t have “much interest” in the Utah Jazz,” according to ESPN draft guru Jonathan Givony, why not stay at 5 and find someone who actually wants to be here? »
» Red Bull Hot Box Racing
It’s not every day that the Red Bull Series comes to Utah, giving tens of thousands the opportunity to watch a race for … FREE. But, Red Bull does, banking on you purchasing their merch—which is cool considering this was the first-EVER Soap Box race in Utah:
A 3-person team called the “Desert Rats” ended up winning the event that sped down Main Street from Capitol Hill in Salt Lake City in front of approximately 50,000 fans. In addition to speed, racers also gain more points through showmanship and creativity, as judged by a celebrity panel. »
#BullshitOrNot:
» SUU athletic director Doug Knuth resigned this past week, citing “family reasons”. By the way, his department is currently under federal investigation for “violations of Title IX.”
Thanks for reading; be safe and be well. I’ll see ya next time. «
Great piece of work on the rape story, Brian. The privileged treatment afforded athletes at college and pro levels remains a cultural embarrassment.