Sexual Assault Charges Dismissed Against Former MSU Basketball Star

The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office said it would appeal a decision Monday by a Flint district judge to dismiss sexual assault charges against former Michigan State University basketball star Manteen Cleaves, who was accused of holding a woman against her will and sexually assaulting her at a Flint area motel last year.

Flint 67th District Court Judge M. Cathy Dowd dismissed the charges – 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 — at the conclusion of his preliminary examination.

The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office was handling the case after Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton cited a potential conflict of interest.

Cleaves, 39, of Grand Blanc, was arrested in March. In a statement at the time, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy alleged Cleaves had met the woman, 24, at a charity golf outing, drove her to a Mundy Township motel around 1 a.m. on Sept. 15, 2015, held her against her will and sexually assaulted her.

In her ruling, Down said the woman had initiated the contact and voluntarily left a bar with him. Last week, the woman testified that she left a 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.

“I ran out of the room,” she testified. “He came out of the room a second time. I mouthed, ‘Help me.’ ”
However, a police sergeant who testified at the preliminary exam said the woman told police the night of the alleged rape that she had not been assaulted.

However, Down said the woman’s testimony didn’t provide enough evidence to support the charges.

“There are a number of factors that lead me to believe something else could be going on,” Down said.
In a statement, Cleaves said: “I am grateful to my wife, my friends and family, my lawyers Frank Manley and Danielle McCluskey, and my community for their unwavering support. I am thankful that justice was served.”

“We are thrilled that justice was served,” Manley said in a statement. “We were confident that the facts of the case would allow justice to prevail. Four police officers on the scene determined no assault or crime had been committed and the complainant also stated, 'I was not assaulted' on the night of the event. It just didn’t add up. Judge Dowd’s ruling is supported by all the evidence and facts presented.”

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