Prosecutors: Ex-Bills Punter Matt Araiza Wasn't Present for Alleged 2021 Gang Rape

It was announced in December that former Buffalo Bills punter Matt Araiza would not face criminal charges over allegations he was involved in a gang rape during a party at San Diego State in 2021. Now, details have emerged that reveal what led to the decision.

According to Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports, a 200-plus-page transcript of a 100-minute meeting between prosecutors and the plaintiff, who was 17 years old at the time of the alleged assault, and her lawyer reveal that prosecutors determined that Araiza was no longer present at the party.

"He wasn't even at the party anymore," deputy district attorney Trisha Amador explained. Later, Amador said of the timeline of events, "All I know is that at that point, suspect Araiza is gone from the party."

Araiza, who remains the subject of a civil lawsuit, was accused of leading the girl to a bedroom where "at least three other men" waited during a party at a home near the SDSU campus on Oct. 15, 2021. Wetzel noted that prosecutors concluded that he "had 'left' the home at about 12:30 a.m., an hour prior to when evidence suggested the alleged gang rape would have occurred."

After the allegations surfaced last August, Araiza was released by the Bills. He remains out of football, though he has denied participation in any gang rape, knowledge that the girl was below California's age of consent (18) or whether she was intoxicated. He allegedly had a separate encounter with the girl prior to the alleged rape.

"Any sexual contact, Ariaza has said, was consensual," Wetzel wrote. "Now here, essentially, are local prosecutors making his case for him via a recording that not every jurisdiction provides."

Wetzel added that prosecutors informed the woman that video recordings "made it impossible to determine, let alone prosecute anyone, on whether there was a gang rape at all that night, rather than consensual sex with the other men."

"In looking at the videos on the sex tape, I absolutely cannot prove any forceable sexual assault based upon what happened," Amador told her.

The girl's attorney, Dan Gilleon, reportedly told CBS8 in San Diego that the witness whom prosecutors based their determination that Araiza wasn't present for the alleged gang rape was a "buddy" of his.

Gilleon added in a statement to Fox News Digital that his client won't be "bullied into dropping her case." He added: "This case is going to trial, and we'll force Araiza to talk."