Woman told police ex-KU player Arterio Morris held her down by neck, raped her: affidavit
An affidavit obtained by The Star on Wednesday revealed new information about a felony rape charge against former University of Kansas men’s basketball player Arterio Morris, who was dismissed from the Jayhawks after being arrested on the charge in late September.
The two-page document reveals further details the 18-year-old victim shared with a KU police officer during a Sept. 1 interview, as well as additional details from the ensuing police investigation.
The affidavit, which redacts the names of the victim and witnesses, alleges Morris raped the victim inside a room at McCarthy Hall, the KU men’s basketball players’ dorm. The affidavit alleges Morris pulled her onto his lap “without consent after being told multiple times” by the victim that she “didn’t want to do anything.”
The victim alleged that after she attempted “to get off Morris, he pulled her back down … turned her over on her back” and eventually “held her down by her neck,” all while she both verbally told him to stop — “Stop. This really hurts,” she said — and attempted to push Morris off her.
The affidavit alleges Morris told the victim, “You know you like it,” while continuing to rape her. The victim eventually “gave up,” the affidavit said, and later told police she had “hoped it would be over soon.”
“A few minutes after the incident,” the victim “disclosed what had happened” to two witnesses, “who were in a nearby bedroom” at McCarthy Hall, located just south of Allen Fieldhouse, the affidavit says.
Another source, who was not the victim, echoed that detail with The Star. That source said the victim shortly after the incident shared with two people that it had happened, including one KU basketball player not related to the incident.
A complaint filed against Morris in Douglas County court previously listed five witnesses, including three men’s basketball players. A witness listing does not necessarily mean a person was present when an alleged crime was committed.
The affidavit alleges Morris told another person at McCarthy Hall on Aug. 26 that he “stopped having sex with” the victim, then later denied having sex with her at all. In a statement on Aug. 30, Morris told the KU Office of Civil Rights and Title IX that he was not alone with the victim at any point.
Morris’ first court date is set for 3 p.m. on Oct. 18, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to The Star.
The penalties for the charge — “a severity level 1 person felony,” per court documents — range from a 147 months (12 years, 3 months) to 653 months (54 years, 5 months) in prison and/or a fine of up to $300,000 and 36 months of post-release supervision.
Morris was arrested Sept. 29 and released shortly after on a bond of $75,000, according to Douglas County logs. He has not publicly commented on the case, but he appeared to share a vague social media post about false accusations against college basketball players before deactivating his X account.
In previous conversations with The Star, Morris’ agent, Chris Gaston, mentor Juan Rivera, KU coach Bill Self and, per a KU athletics spokesperson, KU athletic director Travis Goff all declined comment.
Later Wednesday, The Star confirmed that Morris has enrolled at Garden City Community College in Garden City, Kan.
Arterio Morris’ prior assault case in Texas
This isn’t the first legal matter for Morris, who joined the Jayhawks in late April after transferring from Texas.
Kansas added Morris to the team ahead of the 2023-24 season despite a different pending legal matter Morris was facing back in Texas. Morris, who was not suspended during his freshman season at the University of Texas (2022-23), received a Class A misdemeanor assault charge from an alleged June 2022 confrontation with an ex-girlfriend in Frisco, Texas.
According to Frisco police, as outlined in an AP story shared on ESPN.com, the woman in that 2022 incident “told police Morris grabbed her arm and pulled her off a bed, then grabbed the front of her sports bra, which she said caused (an) injury on her neck.
“Police reported seeing a 3-inch abrasion on the woman’s neck and arrested Morris on a charge of assault causing injury to a family member, which includes dating relationships in Texas.”
Self, speaking to media last week, said he would not comment on the pending legal matter of Morris, but said “it was obviously well-vetted” when asked about the process of Morris joining KU.
On June 24 of this year, the alleged victim in that case filed an affidavit of non-prosecution and requested that charges be dismissed, but the Denton County District Attorney’s Office had previously told The Star it would continue to pursue charges.
Morris was set to appear for a jury trial on Oct. 2, 2023, but the trial was canceled on Thursday, Sept. 14, when he entered a nolo contendere (no contest) plea to a Class C charge and was ordered to pay a fine of $362.
In a statement back in May, Self said KU had spoken “at length with Arterio, his family, his former institution’s University Student Affairs office and his former institution’s Department of Athletics Compliance and Administration.”
“Based on these discussions, we are comfortable welcoming Arterio to the University of Kansas and he is well aware of the high standards and expectations that come with being a member of the Kansas Men’s Basketball program,” Self said at the time. “We fully expect him to meet those daily.”
The Star’s Gary Bedore contributed to this report.
This story was originally published October 11, 2023 at 11:35 AM with the headline "Woman told police ex-KU player Arterio Morris held her down by neck, raped her: affidavit."
