Grand jury declines to charge Xavier ex-player Dezmine Wells in sexual assault

CINCINNATI (AP) — A grand jury has rejected criminal charges against former Xavier University basketball player Dez Wells, a week after the school expelled him.

Prosecutors presented allegations of sexual assault against Wells to the county grand jury, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said Tuesday.

“We always take allegations of this nature very seriously,” Deters said. “The grand jury declined to charge Dezmine Wells with any criminal offense.”

The university last week expelled Wells for what it called a “serious violation” of the school’s code of student conduct. At the time, the school gave no details of the violation, but said a conduct board consisting of faculty, students and administrators made the decision.

“I would sincerely hope the institution would revisit this situation,” Deters said in a statement.

The university didn’t respond immediately to a request for comment.

Wells started 32 games as a freshman last season and was the team’s fourth-leading scorer while making the Atlantic 10’s all-rookie team. He would have been the only returning starter for a team that reached the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament. The forward averaged 9.8 points and 4.9 rebounds.

He was suspended for four games for his role in an on-court brawl with rival Cincinnati during the season. Wells was among four Xavier players suspended, with Cincinnati also suspending four players.

Deters had looked into possible criminal charges against some players in the December brawl but decided against it.

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