Jarryd Hayne leaves Australia following rape claims in US court
EMBATTLED NRL star Jarryd Hayne has reportedly fled Sydney following the filing of rape allegations in a US Court. Hayne boarded a plane in secret last night for Tel Aviv.
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EXPLOSIVE: See the court documents detailing the case
EMBATTLED NRL star Jarryd Hayne has reportedly fled Sydney following the filing of rape allegations in a US Court.
The Eels marquee man has arrived in Tel Aviv after boarding a plane in secret overnight, Channel 7 reports.
Hayne was only recently returned from a trip to Jerusalem where he was baptised in the Jordan River but left Australia quickly following the rape claims.
The claims, filed in a civil suit in California Superior Court yesterday, allege Hayne had non-consensual sex with a woman in December 2015 while he was in the US playing NFL for the San Francisco 49ers.
The claims were revealed in legal documents filed as part of a civil lawsuit in Santa Clara County by lawyers for the woman, known as Ms V, who claims Hayne raped her and took her virginity at his San Jose apartment on December 21 2015 after a drunken night at a local bar.
The woman said she did not go to police until May last year because she feared she would not be believed, according to the claim.
In October last year, the Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office decided no charges would be laid.
Hayne yesterday insisted he never raped the 25-year-old “religious” restaurant worker.
“Mr Hayne unequivocally and vehemently denies the allegations which are the subject of the civil complaint,” Hayne’s Sydney lawyer Ramy Qutami of Madison Marcus Law Firm, said.
“Mr Hayne previously addressed a complaint made to the District Attorney’s office in the County of Santa Clara in 2016 and the District Attorney did not proceed any further with the matter due to insufficient evidence to substantiate the allegations.
“Mr Hayne provided all reasonable assistance to the District Attorney with that investigation.”
The documents were filed on December 19, two days before the expiration of California’s two-year statute of limitations for civil personal injury claims.
After the documents are served on him, which could be some weeks, Hayne, who has signed with the Parramatta Eels for 2018 after an unhappy return to the NRL with the Gold Coast Titans, will have to lodge a defence with the court.
The woman has requested a jury trial.