Nebraska Cornhuskers

Woman reports rape at home of Huskers' Armstrong, Westerkamp

Published Nov. 17, 2015 7:42 p.m. ET

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LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) Police said Tuesday they were investigating a report of a sexual assault at the residence of Nebraska quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. and standout receiver Jordan Westerkamp.

Officer Katie Flood said a 20-year-old woman went to a Lincoln hospital Sunday afternoon and said she had been raped. The woman told police she knows the suspect, and Flood said that person was contacted.

Flood said no arrests had been made.

Armstrong told the Omaha World-Herald that he, Westerkamp and another roommate, tight end Trey Foster, have spoken with police.

''After talking to us, (the police) said you guys should be fine,'' he told the newspaper. He also told the World-Herald he didn't know why the woman went to police, adding, ''From what we're hearing, everything was consensual.''

Armstrong, Westerkamp and Foster were not made available to the media after practice Tuesday. Nebraska issued a statement saying it was aware of the allegation and was cooperating with law enforcement officials and the university's Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance.

Nebraska played Rutgers in New Jersey on Saturday, and Armstrong said he arrived at his house about 12:30 a.m. Sunday. According to the police report, the alleged rape occurred Sunday between 2:15 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.

Coach Mike Riley said he wasn't told about the investigation until shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday - more than 48 hours after the alleged assault occurred. He said an athletic department staffer pulled him out of a meeting to inform him.

''I would have liked to have known earlier,'' Riley said.

Riley said he spoke to the three roommates about the fact there's an investigation - not the specifics of it. He said he didn't ask them why they hadn't come to him on their own volition to discuss the situation.

''We try to school our players on informing us of anything,'' Riley said. ''We're here, we're responsible for their lives right here - football, all that. I always tell them I can't help without information.''

The Cornhuskers don't have a game this week. Riley said it was too early to know if any of the players would be held out of the Nov. 27 home game against Iowa. Riley said the situation has created a distraction.

''I am like all of you, I'm interested in where we're going and what's going to be found,'' he said. ''I know the process is ongoing and the right people are taking care of that process.''

In September, Riley was named in a federal lawsuit filed in Eugene, Oregon, by a woman who said she was raped while attending Oregon State in 1999. The lawsuit against the school and Riley seeks $7.5 million.

The woman accused the university and Riley of failing to address a sexually violent culture among the football team that contributed to her being attacked by a player's cousin at an off-campus apartment. Dennis Erickson had been Oregon State's football coach for 10 months at the time of the alleged rape, but his name does not appear in the lawsuit.

Riley coached Oregon State in 1998, when a different woman said she was raped by four men, one of whom was the player whose cousin is named as the attacker in the lawsuit.