Judge Keeps Temporary Protective Order against Matt Pilgrim

Originally Published: Jul 8, 2010 10:17 PM CDT

Oklahoma Sports Staff & AP Wire Reports

STILLWATER, Oklahoma -- A judge decided Thursday to keep a temporary protective order in place against Oklahoma State basketball player Matt Pilgrim after hearing testimony from a female student who has accused him of sexual assault.

Pilgrim was in court but did not testify and has not been charged or arrested. A university spokesman said Pilgrim remains an OSU student and a member of the Cowboys' basketball team.

The trial that started Thursday is to determine whether the protective order will be made permanent, and it was continued until Sept. 7. The woman has alleged that Pilgrim sexually assaulted her at her on-campus residence on April 12.

She said Pilgrim visited her residence twice that night and exposed himself to her. She said that after the two exchanged Facebook messages, he returned and she performed a sex act on him in hopes that he would leave. He didn't and instead assaulted her, the woman said.

She said she told Pilgrim numerous times that she was not interested in having sex with him. She said that after hearing such objections, "a normal person would think ... 'I should leave.' He's not normal."

Under cross-examination from Deborah Vincent, an attorney for Pilgrim, the woman said she did not consider shouting for help when Pilgrim was in her residence.

The woman said she went to see her doctor the next day and was sent to a Stillwater hospital, where she spoke to police. When cross-examined, the woman acknowledged that she had signed a document then saying she did not want to proceed with the case, but also said she later asked that it be reopened.

The woman also testified that during an encounter with Pilgrim in early May, he shouted that she was going to "mess up" his senior year of basketball. He started 13 games for the Cowboys last season, averaging 8.2 points and 6.7 rebounds.

Payne County Special Judge Phillip Corley continued the trial after her testimony. The woman's attorney, Park Medearis of Tahlequah, told the judge he planned to call Pilgrim as a witness.

The judge told Pilgrim that the temporary protective order remains in effect and that the player should avoid contact with the woman. Pilgrim nodded.

Both the woman and Pilgrim left the courthouse without comment. One of Pilgrim's attorneys, Willie Baker, did not return a phone message left at his office seeking comment.

Two other people who testified Thursday were called by Medearis. Floye Taylor, a nurse practitioner who treated the woman about a month after the alleged assault, said injuries sustained by the woman were not consistent with consensual sex. Under cross-examination, Taylor said she could not tell who might have caused the injuries or when they occurred.

Chet Skimbo, an OSU police officer who helped the woman obtain the emergency protective order, briefly testified about that process but wasn't questioned by Pilgrim's attorneys.