Judge Revives Rape Case Against Mateen Cleaves

A Circuit Court judge on Monday reinstated sexual assault charges against Mateen Cleaves, ordering the former Michigan State University basketball star to stand trial on allegations that he held a woman against her will in a Flint-area motel in 2015 and sexually assaulted her. The charges had been dismissed in December, and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy vowed to appeal.

Genesee County 7th Circuit Judge Archie L. Hayman reinstated the four criminal counts against Cleaves — two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count each of unlawful imprisonment, assault with intent to commit sexual penetration and second-degree criminal sexual conduct — and concluded the lower court judge abused her discretion.

No trial date has been set, the prosecutor’s office said in a news release. The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office is handling the case after Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton cited a potential conflict of interest.

Cleaves, 39, of Grand Blanc, was arrested in March 2016. In a statement at the time, Worthy alleged Cleaves had met a 24-year-old at a charity golf outing, accompanied her and her friends to a local bar for drinks, and then drove her to a Mundy Township motel around 1 a.m. on Sept. 15, 2015, held her against her will and sexually assaulted her.

The woman said she twice escaped the room, but each time Cleaves pulled her back in. After the alleged assault, the woman was able to escape the room, and received assistance from a woman in a nearby room, Worthy said.

In court Monday, Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Lisa Lindsey agued, “If she wanted to be with the defendant so bad, why did she run out of the room desperately trying to get away from the defendant?”

In her ruling dismissing the charges against Cleaves last winter, Flint 67th District Court M. Cathy Down said the woman had initiated the contact and voluntarily left a bar with him. The woman testified that she did leave the bar with the former basketball star, but thought he was driving her back to the golf course. Instead, they ended up at the motel, where she said Cleaves forced himself on her and drug her back into the motel room when she tried to get away.

Attorney Frank Manley, told the Detroit Free Press that Cleaves is the victim in the case.

“This case has been ripe with sensationalism and a real lack of investigation. I feel like my client is the victim in this case — of a system that has gotten out of control,” Manley said, adding that though he may appeal the decision reinstating the charges, he’s confident Cleaves will prevail in court.

“Our goal is to clear Mr. Cleaves,” Manley said. “He’s disappointed because his name has been dragged through the mud with what we believe to be false charges. The ultimate question is, where does he go to get his reputation back?”

After his college career at MSU, where he was the hero of the Spartans’ national championship in 2000, Cleaves as drafted by the Detroit Pistons and also played in the NBA for the Sacramento Kings, Seattle SuperSonics and Cleveland Cavaliers.

Mateen Cleaves, who led the Michigan State University basketball team to the 2000 National Championship, throws out a ceremonial first pitch before the Detroit Tigers baseball game against the Texas Rangers at Comerica Park Friday, Aug. 21, 2015, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)