TU Soccer Player Charged With Sexual Assault Of Fellow Student

A University of Tulsa student-athlete is in Tulsa County Jail accused of sexually assaulting another student on campus. Lesley Nchanji, a soccer player from Cameroon, is accused of raping another athlete.

According to court documents, the victim said she was at a birthday party on June 10th at a campus apartment.

The 19-year-old woman said she drank about eight shots of vodka, and the last thing she remembers is looking for her purse. 

She woke up the next morning in Nchanji's bed, in pain and with torn clothes, she told police.  

"She knew immediately that this was not a good situation and that something very bad had happened," said Sergeant Jillian Phippen, Tulsa Police.

Officers questioned Nchanji who told them he started to escort the woman back to her dorm. He said she was so intoxicated she could not tell him where she lived and did not have a key, so he took her to his apartment where he "threw the victim over his back and carried her to the bed," the affidavit states.

"She was just wanting to get back to her apartment; however, she couldn't really figure out where she was or what was going on," Phippen said.

Nchanji told police he was scared because the victim was "way, way drunk," breathing heavily and vomiting. Police said he admitted to having oral sex but said things stopped there.   

Eventually, the victim decided to go to the hospital where she was given a sexual assault exam. Sergeant Jillian Phippen with TPD Sex Crimes said the victim has no recollection of what exactly happened because she "blacked out."

Several witnesses told investigators the victim was extremely intoxicated the night Nchanji took her to his apartment, court records show. One man said he spoke to Nchanji the day after the party.

Nchanji told him he was with the victim after the party and had never seen someone as drunk as she was, the affidavit states. Nchanji also reportedly said the girl was shaking and "looked like a dead body."

"We have a lot of young females that are completely unconscious when they are sexually assaulted, and for some reason that is a really big draw for these suspects," Phippen said.

"When you have a completely unconscious female, clearly she cannot consent."

Nchanji is being held on a $200,000 bond for first-degree rape, two counts of forcible sodomy and sexual battery.

TU released a statement saying:

"The University of Tulsa is investigating a report of a student who was sexually assaulted by another student earlier this month. TU’s Office of Student Affairs is reviewing the report in accordance with the student code of conduct. The alleged assailant was a TU student-athlete at the time of the incident and was arrested by Tulsa Police. He has been dismissed from the soccer team and is banned from campus pending the outcome of the university investigation."