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Identity

Frostee Rucker, Defensive End, Accused of Sexual Assault in 1997 and 2002

via USA Today Sports

Position: Defensive end
Height / Weight: 6'3" / 280 lbs
College: Colorado State University, University of Southern California
NFL draft: 2006 / Round: 3 / Pick: 91
Career history: Cincinnati Bengals (2006–2011), Cleveland Browns (2012), Arizona Cardinals (2013–present)


In April 2002, while a freshman at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO, Frostee Rucker was arrested and charged with sexual assault of one woman and indecent exposure to another.

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According to an affidavit for an arrest warrant obtained by Broadly, in the early-morning hours of April 14, 2002, CSU Police were notified by the Poudre Valley Hospital ER staff that a woman in the ER was reporting that she had been sexually assaulted on campus. According to her statement to police, the woman was at a party with Rucker, whom she identified as her friend, and gave him a ride home back to his residence hall, which was located next door to her residence hall. According to her statement, Rucker followed her inside her hall instead of walking to his hall.

The alleged victim, according to the affidavit, immediately used the bathroom. When she exited the bathroom she found Rucker standing naked in her dorm room. He did not answer her when she asked, "What are you doing?" According to the affidavit, Rucker "pinned [her] down on the bed and pulled her pants and underwear off, while she was telling him to 'stop.'"

According to the affidavit, "Frostee Rucker forced his penis into [her] vagina and had intercourse with her for a few minutes." The alleged victim stated to police that she told Rucker to "stop" and "you're hurting me," five to ten times during the assault. At the hospital, according to the affidavit, a sexual assault exam determined that there were "vaginal injuries consistent with sexual assault."

When interviewed by the police, Rucker admitted to having sex with the alleged victim, but said it was consensual.

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According to the affidavit, a different woman told police that on November 28, 2001 that Rucker had exposed himself to her on campus by pulling his penis out of his pants and "drawing attention to it."

Rucker's bail was set at $50,000. Following his arrest, he was reportedly suspended from the CSU football team.

In July 2002, Rucker pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of harassment and received a one-year deferred sentence. He was also ordered to pay $60 to the Colorado Victim's Compensation fund as well as the victim's medical bills.

Eric Fisher, the attorney who represented Rucker in the 2002 sexual assault case, told Broadly, "My client took a deal because [the university] ultimately did remove him from school despite [our] providing testimony from independent witnesses that the sexual assault didn't occur. The school felt they couldn't keep [both Rucker and his alleged victim] on campus. Mr. Rucker voluntarily agreed to transfer to USC."

Fischer confirmed that Rucker received a football scholarship to the University of Southern California, which he started attending that fall. His team, the Trojans, won the National Championship in 2004.


During the police's 2002 investigation, it was revealed—through police records from Rucker's hometown of Tustin, CA, that were faxed to authorities in Colorado—that Rucker had been charged with sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl in 1997. According to the 2002 affidavit, Rucker had "pulled the swim suit [sic] bottoms off of the girl and attempted to have intercourse with her. Rucker acknowledged that sexual contact had occurred."

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A records clerk in the Tustin Police Department confirmed to Broadly that there is a record for Rucker from 1997 and that "it is rape." Because he and the alleged victim were minors at the time, the case is sealed.

Rucker's representatives did not return Broadly's request for comment on these allegations.


On June 23, 2006, in Los Angeles, CA, Rucker was charged with two counts of domestic battery and two counts of vandalism stemming from an alleged fight on August 7, 2005 with his then-girlfriend, during which he broke her cell phone, according to court records obtained by Broadly.

Leonard Levine, who represented Rucker in the case, told Broadly, "[Rucker] sought a restraining order against her. The bottom line was [that] there was no conviction of domestic violence."

Rucker pleaded not guilty, and the case went to jury trial on May 2, 2007. On May 3, 2007, Rucker pleaded no contest to one count of false imprisonment and one count of vandalism as part of a plea agreement; the other charges were dismissed. He was sentenced to three years probation, 750 hours of community service, and ordered to pay $400 to a domestic violence fund as well as $100 restitution to the victim. He was also ordered to complete a 52-week domestic-violence treatment program.

On August 10, 2007, Rucker's probation was revoked, and a bench warrant for $50,000 was issued for failing to supply proof that he had enrolled in a domestic violence treatment program, according to court documents.

Levine told Broadly, "There was a date that I had mis-calendared. There was no failure for him to do it. There was failure on my part to supply proof to the court."

At a probation violation hearing on June 6, 2008, Rucker submitted proof of completing his court-ordered domestic-violence treatment program, and his probation was reinstated. As of October 12, 2011, Rucker still had not submitted proof that he had completed his court-ordered community service. In July 2011, a petition for dismissal of his probation was filed and a hearing on the matter is scheduled for January 4, 2016.

"We are going back in January to expunge," Levine told Broadly. At that time, he said, they will "re-provide proof of the completion of community service."