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Update—Monday, 4:55 p.m. CT: Following the revelation of these charges, Wisconsin has announced the suspension of Cephus. We will be publishing a new story shortly and all updates will go there.
Wisconsin announces suspension of WR Quintez Cephus. More to come on B5Q; here is UW’s statement. pic.twitter.com/Lgou7pQbNA
— Bucky's 5th Quarter (@B5Q) August 20, 2018
Update—Monday, 3:50 p.m. CT: More details are emerging Monday.
Madison police have now issued a statement about the Cephus investigation. Two women have accused him of sexual assault on the same night.
— Lance Veeser (@lanceveeser) August 20, 2018
As B5Q’s Bob Wiedenhoeft (and several others on Twitter) noticed Monday afternoon, there is now a listing in Wisconsin Circuit Court records with information about the charges Cephus is facing. They include one count of third-degree sexual assault and one count of second-degree sexual assault-intoxicated victim.
Update—Monday, 1:55 p.m. CT: Only players were available to media post-practice today. One update:
Spoke to WR A.J Taylor about the Quintez Cephus situation: “We’re definitely a very close group of receivers. We all love each other, but with it, yeah, we’re all gonna support each other - Q, Danny, Ken... we’re all gonna support each other and come together.”#Badgers
— Melissa Y. Kim (@melissaykim) August 20, 2018
Update—Monday, 1:33 p.m. CT: Cephus will face still-unspecified charges in Dane County court on Thursday morning, Dane County DA Ismael Ozanne told News 3.
Original story by Jake Kocorowski
On Saturday evening before Wisconsin’s practice, wide receiver Quintez Cephus announced via Twitter that he will take a leave of absence from the program. Cephus’s statement cited potential legal charges being filed against him stemming from an April incident.
In the statement, Cephus states he is being “wrongfully accused of unlawful conduct” and claims innocence in what he references as a “consensual relationship.”
The precise legal issues or criminal charges are not known at this time.
The Wisconsin State Journal’s Jason Galloway reported on Saturday evening that Cephus talked with head coach Paul Chryst earlier in the day about the leave of absence, with the team learning about it “at a regularly scheduled meeting later in the day.”
After practice, head coach Paul Chryst met with reporters.
“Earlier today, I met with Q, and I know he was planning to release a statement, and at this time really don’t have anything more to add to that,” Chryst said.
When asked if he and Cephus met and came to the decision, or if it was Cephus’s decision, Chryst replied, “Like I said earlier, I’m going to stick with that.”
Read Cephus’s full statement below:
— Quintez Cephus (@QoDeep_87) August 18, 2018
Later on Saturday evening, WISC-TV’s Melissa Kim contacted the Madison Police Department, with police chief Mike Koval responding:
"... to the information that this individual has been sharing. In so far as this is an open investigation awaiting further decisions from the District Attorney's Office, MPD will not be commenting further out of respect for the rights of individuals...."#Badgers #News3
— Melissa Y. Kim (@melissaykim) August 19, 2018
"... who have not been charged and are entitled to full due process of the law."#Badgers #News3
— Melissa Y. Kim (@melissaykim) August 19, 2018
Before his season-ending injury in early November last year, Cephus caught 30 passes for 501 yards and six touchdowns. He missed most of spring practice this year but returned in limited fashion during the last week of April. He practiced extensively during fall camp through Friday.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.