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Baxter Holmes
A choose sentenced Ben McLemore to greater than eight years in Oregon state jail Wednesday after the previous NBA guard was discovered responsible of raping and sexually assaulting a 21-year-old lady at a Lake Oswego home social gathering in 2021.
A Clackamas County Circuit Courtroom jury discovered the 32-year-old McLemore, who hasn’t performed within the NBA since 2022, guilty last week on one cost of first-degree rape, one cost of first-degree illegal sexual penetration and one depend of second-degree sexual abuse. The jury did not convict McLemore on a further depend of second-degree sexual abuse. McLemore, who was sentenced to 100 months in state jail Wednesday, pleaded not responsible to all 4 counts.
McLemore didn’t tackle the courtroom and was wearing a Clackamas County Jail inmate clothes.
“Many individuals are sometimes afraid to report this kind of conduct for plenty of causes,” Clackamas County First Assistant District Lawyer Scott Healy stated in an announcement. “Hopefully the sufferer’s power and braveness on this case will give others the fortitude to return ahead in circumstances the place sexual assault has occurred. The sentence the defendant acquired at the moment ought to function a reminder that this kind of conduct won’t be tolerated in our group, and that the Clackamas County DA’s Workplace will all the time work onerous to carry offenders accountable and supply justice to victims.”
The fees stem from a report of sexual assault in Lake Oswego on Oct. 3, 2021, on the residence of Robert Covington, one in every of McLemore’s then-teammates on the Portland Trail Blazers. Police started investigating, and McLemore was recognized as a suspect.
In February 2024, a Clackamas County grand jury heard proof within the case, together with testimony from the girl who stated McLemore assaulted her, and issued an indictment in opposition to McLemore in addition to an arrest warrant, in response to police from Lake Oswego.
U.S. Marshals arrested McLemore two months later.
“We hope the Oregon Legislature will undertake a ‘re-examination’ course of that will consider whether or not he ought to serve the complete 100 month sentence or whether or not, past the quick alcohol-influenced encounter that led to this conviction, he’s a thoughtful and humble one who has lived an honorable, community-focused life,” McLemore’s lawyer, Kristen Winemiller, instructed ESPN on Wednesday.
Healy instructed jurors in the course of the trial that the girl had been consuming closely, handed out on a lounge sofa round 2 a.m., then regained partial consciousness within the morning when McLemore sexually penetrated her along with his fingers after which started having intercourse together with her.
McLemore’s attorneys disputed the sufferer’s account and claimed she initiated sexual contact and consented to it. In addition they asserted that the girl was sober sufficient to consent despite the fact that each she and McLemore have been intoxicated. On Wednesday, the sufferer appeared by video and browse an announcement.
“This has been the longest nearly 4 years of my life. I by no means imagined that reporting this again in 2021 would result in such an extremely troublesome and lengthy journey,” she stated, partially. “These previous few years have usually felt like a weight that I’ve needed to drag behind me, a continuing reminder of the trauma that I have never been capable of totally work via as a result of there was no ending in sight. I now perceive, on a deep stage, why so many victims hesitate or by no means report what occurred to them.”
McLemore was the seventh decide within the 2013 draft out of Kansas and performed for 5 groups throughout 9 NBA seasons. After enjoying for the Path Blazers, McLemore started enjoying abroad for skilled groups in China, Greece and Spain.