Charlotte 49ers quarterback Kevin Olsen was arrested on rape charges Sunday afternoon in Charlotte.
Olsen is charged with three counts of felony second-degree forcible rape, communicating threats, assault on a female and second-degree sex offense (forcible fondling).
Charlotte football coach Brad Lambert said Sunday night he was aware of the arrest and that Olsen, a junior, had been suspended from the team.
A statement released by UNC Charlotte said that the allegations against Olsen “appear to involve sexual assault within an existing relationship.”
UNC Charlotte said it had been in communication with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police following the arrest Sunday afternoon. Allegations in the case stemmed from an incident that occurred off campus, the university said, but provided no details.
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“This incident occurred a week after a separate, unrelated case of alleged on-campus sexual assault involving acquaintances,” the university said. “Olsen has been suspended from Charlotte athletics, and the University is reviewing the case consistent with its disciplinary procedures.”
Olsen, 22, 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, was booked into the Charlotte Mecklenburg Jail about 4:45 p.m. Sunday.
Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen, Kevin Olsen’s brother, speaking through others, said he had nothing to say.
“Greg has no comment, and asks that people respect his privacy,” said Steven Drummond, director of communications for Carolina Panthers.
Olsen started the first five games for the 49ers at quarterback in 2016, after a career that has been marred with off-field problems and disappointment.
Olsen essentially made a mess of his first two stops in college, with an accumulation of reported legal entanglements forcing him out of Miami and, less than a year later, broken team rules ending a brief stay at Towson.
After a season at a junior college in California, Olsen landed with the 49ers.
Olsen redshirted at Miami in 2013, and appeared to have won the Hurricanes’ starting job for the following season. But he left school in September 2014 after reportedly being suspended multiple times for breaking team rules and failing a drug test. His final transgression at Miami, where he would never play a down, was being charged with DUI and possession of a fake or stolen identification.
Olsen then transferred to the Football Championship Subdivision’s Towson, but was thrown off the team in March 2015 for violating team rules, according to the Baltimore Sun. He still hadn’t taken a snap in a college football game.
“People are going to say stuff,” Olsen said in an August 2016 interview with the Observer. “It’s never as good or as bad as what you hear. I won’t dwell on the past. People who dwell on things never emerge from that low state. It’s got to stop. It’s been two years ago now.
“I guess you could say I regret it, probably more for putting my family, friends and coaching staff through it more than anything else. My biggest regret is what I put the people who care about me through over the last two years.”
Patrick James contributed to this report.
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