USU football player arrested on suspicion of rape, kidnapping, drugs charges
Jul 11, 2023, 11:33 AM | Updated: 11:35 pm
LOGAN, Utah — A Utah State University lineman has been arrested on suspicion of multiple first-degree felonies including rape, kidnapping and selling drugs.
Kingsley Holliday, who also played at Corner Canyon High School, and was part of the football programs at Snow College and SUU, is accused of taking a woman he didn’t know from an event venue on Sept. 3, 2022.
The victim said he dragged her across a parking lot, road and ditch, despite her repeated protests, and raped and sexually assaulted her, according to probable cause documents.
Holliday, according to an affidavit from 1st District Court in Logan, was seen at the event by witnesses and matched by DNA collected from the victim at a hospital the same night. The document states Holliday denied any involved with the abduction and sexual assault “but was concerned that the victim might be pregnant.”
“Part of that aggravated kidnapping charge was because of the unlawful detention,” said Chief Kent Goodrich of the North Park Police Department. “She was not wanting to go with Mr. Holiday. Did not want to be a party to what was, she feared was going to take place.”
In the documents, it is requested bail be denied for Holliday because it is believed “the suspect constitutes a threat to society.”
“The victim was unknown to the suspect, and the event appears random and unplanned in nature,” documents, written by officers from North Park Police Department state. Officers responded to a call that a victim was in the emergency room reporting the rape.
The victim said she didn’t know Holliday who grabbed her by her wrist and taking her away where he assaulted her.
“She didn’t know who the assailant was. She knew that he was a USU football player,” Goodrich said.
Previous to the arrest, Holliday has reportedly been observed selling drugs similar to adderall to a confidential informant by the Cache Rich Drug Task Force on the USU campus during school hours. Considered a “drug free zone,” the May 2 sale was enhanced to a first-degree felony. Earlier, on April 25, Holliday is accused of selling pills to an informant within 100 feet of the USU campus, also enhancing that suspected offense to a first-degree felony.
He was arrested on July 10 on suspicion of the following:
- Aggravated kidnapping — while committing unlawful detention
- Rape
- Forcible sodomy
- Two counts of knowingly producing or dispensing a controlled substance
According to the USU Football website, he didn’t appear in any 2022 football games, spent the 2021 season at Snow College and redshirted at Southern Utah University in 2019.
Documents state that when Holliday was arrested for sex offenses, “it was decided that Kingley would also be booked on this controlled buy.”
USU’s interim athletic director Jerry Bovee said in a prepared statement that “our student-athletes are trained and educated numerous times annually as it relates to sexual conduct, and we unequivocally will not tolerate any violations of the law.”
USU Football Troubled History
Utah State has a trouble history with rape cases involving members of its football team. The Utah Supreme Court recently denied an appeal from former player Torrey Green, found guilty in 2019 of assaulting six women. He was sentenced for up to life for the assaults.
One victim sold KSL TV that decision finally brought her closure.
In 2020 a U.S. Department of Justice report found reports of sexual assault went unaddressed on the Logan campus. In a KSL Investigates story, a student said the school mishandled her report of rape.
In a separate case, a different football player was formally charged with rape in the wake of the DOJ report.
In 2021 head coach Blake Anderson apologized to victims in a statement for telling his players that it “has never been more glamorized to be a victim” and players are a “target to some.” He said he regretted the words and apologized to anyone who has bravely come forward with allegations of wrongdoing.
USU Police Chief Earl Morris resigned amid outcry to his warning to football players, captured in a different recording, that Latter-day Saint women may falsely report sexual assault.
If you have experienced sexual violence, you can access help and resources by calling Utah’s 24-hour Sexual Violence Help Line at 1-801-736-4356 (English) or 1-801-924-0860 (Spanish). You can also call the Rape Recovery Center office line during office hours at 801-467-7282 or the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 for free, confidential counseling.
