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Former Iowa State guard Bubu Palo sues woman who accused him of sexual assault

Bubu Palo

ADVANCE FOR WEEKEND EDITIONS, FEB. 1-2 - FILE - In this Jan. 25, 2014, file photo, Iowa State guard Bubu Palo, right, sits on the bench during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Kansas State in Ames, Iowa. Palo was recently reinstated to team after Iowa’s Supreme Court ruled in his favor. Palo was suspended in 2012 after being charged with second-degree sexual assault. The charge was dropped a year ago, and the university’s Office of Judicial Affairs cleared Palo to return to the team. But Palo was found to have violated Iowa State’s student code of conduct by president Steven Leath and kicked off the team on Aug. 30. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

AP

Back in 2012 former Iowa State guard Bubu Palo was charged with second-degree sexual assault as a result of an alleged incident that occurred in May 2012. Charges were never filed, but in September 2013 Palo was dismissed from the Iowa State program after the ruling that he did not violate the school’s code of conduct was overturned.

Palo would eventually take the school to court, an in mid-January a Webster County judge granted a temporary stay of the ruling that the guard was no longer allowed to be a member of the team. Palo would rejoin the program for the final 19 games of the 2013-14 season but did not see any action.

Thursday it was reported by the Ames Tribune that Palo has decided to sue the woman who accused him of sexual assault, arguing that the accuser “used the criminal legal process primarily to harass Palo,” also noting the damage done to his reputation as a result of the case.

Those accusations, the lawsuit argues, caused Palo to suffer legal costs in order to defend himself and “exposed Palo to public hatred, contempt and ridicule, and injured Palo in the maintenance of his occupation.”

The Story County Attorney’s office dismissed the charges against Palo in January 2013 after conflicts were found between her sworn testimony during depositions and evidence from the alleged sexual assault.

The woman had claimed a six-inch tear in the blouse she was wearing the night in question was made during the alleged sexual assault, however, further investigation while Palo was preparing his defense found the tear had been fabricated, according to the lawsuit.


According to the Tribune, there was no mention of how much money Palo is seeking in the filing of the lawsuit.

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