The Provo Police Department has responded to allegations in a civil lawsuit involving the alleged sexual assault of a Salt Lake County woman by BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff that one of its officers discouraged her from filing a police report because “sexual assault victims never get justice.”
In the lawsuit filed against Retzlaff on Wednesday in 3rd District Court in Salt Lake City, the plaintiff identified in court documents as Jane Doe A.G. claims she reported the alleged assault to Provo police a few days after the incident occurred at Retzlaff’s apartment on or around Nov. 22, 2023.
“The civil suit states that Provo Police personnel discouraged the victim from proceeding, by telling her there is no justice for victims of sexual abuse,” the statement reads. “From everything we have reviewed, this is not true. We have a team of dedicated investigators and victim advocates whose sole mission is to provide justice to victims of sexual abuse. They do not send people away, warning them there is no justice for victims.”
The Provo Police statement begins by noting that the department “has not been served any legal filing relating to this civil case,” as of Wednesday evening. It does acknowledge that there’s “enough detail” of the alleged assault from the civil lawsuit to “identify a possible correlating case report.”
Provo Police say their records show that on Nov. 27, 2023, the department received a phone report from a woman with the initials A.G. who gave a similar account that she was “raped, strangled and bit” by a man she declined to initially name.
“She was treated with courtesy and care. The complainant in that case was given several opportunities to identify her abuser. She declined to do so, as is her right, and the case was subsequently closed,” Provo’s statement reads.
“Collected evidence was examined, and it revealed no actionable investigative leads,” the statement continues. “Our victim advocates followed up several times to offer services but received no response. Because the civil suit does not identify the victim, we cannot be certain our police report is the same incident referenced by the plaintiff, but it does seem likely given the information we have.”
Later, the statement notes that the department’s Special Victims Unit conducts investigations that “regularly result in criminal accountability for offenders” and that “we hope the plaintiff chooses to make a statement to further the criminal investigation if desired.”
The Deseret News reached out to Retzlaff’s family for a response and was directed to the following statement issued by attorney Mark D. Baute, whom the family has retained as counsel:
“I am counsel for Jake Retzlaff. I have met him, and he is a nice young man. He is also factually innocent, and we look forward to proving that innocence. Jake’s focus this year will be on football. We don’t try cases in the media, we will respect the process and establish Jake’s innocence through the judicial system.”
A Provo Police spokesman confirmed that as of Wednesday night there was no formal police report on the matter.
The Deseret News has requested any reports involving Retzlaff filed with the department the past three years through a government open records (GRAMA) request.
BYU issued a statement shortly after 4 p.m. Wednesday in response to media requests. It reads:
“BYU became aware today that a civil lawsuit involving Jake Retzlaff had been filed this morning. The university takes any allegation very seriously, following all processes and guidelines mandated by Title IX. Due to federal and university privacy laws and practices for students, the university will not be able to provide additional comment.”
Retzlaff turned 22 on March 28 and has been in Provo since January of 2023, having transferred to BYU from Riverside (California) City College after being named the No. 1 junior college quarterback in the country.
He replaced an injured Kedon Slovis as BYU’s starter with four games remaining in the 2023 season and then became the full-time starter in 2024, leading the Cougars to an 11-2 record and an Alamo Bowl win over Colorado.
The alleged incident occurred a few days after Retzlaff quarterbacked the Cougars in a 31-24 loss to No. 12 Oklahoma on November 18, 2023 and a few days before he was the signal-caller in BYU’s 40-34 double overtime loss at Oklahoma State on Nov. 25, 2023.