Bombshell: 2nd Victim Possible in Ex-MSU Star's Rape Case

A special prosecutor dropped a bombshell Tuesday in the sexual assault case agaisnt ex-basketball star Mateen Cleaves with suggestions that a second victim may come forward, according to media reports.

Cleaves, 39, of Grand Blanc, is accused of raping a 24-year-old woman in a Flint motel and holding her against her will. The victim told authorities she was able to escape with the help of another guest.

Cleaves was arraigned on felony charges of unlawful imprisonment, assault with intent to commit criminal sexual penetration, second-degree criminal sexual conduct, and two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. The charges are punishable by 10 to 15 years in prison.

Cleaves is free on $150,000 bond.

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Genesee County Special Prosecutor Lisa Lindsey said in a probable cause hearing in Flint 67th District Court Tuesday that her office had received information of a second victim who might step forward, and she wants the judge to reconsider bond during Cleaves’ June 28 preliminary examination.

Cleaves’ defense attorney, Frank Manley, told The Detroit News the suggestion of a second victim amounts to a “stink bomb” thrown by Lindsey, who is on loan from Wayne County to Genesee County after County Prosecutor David Leyton cited a potential conflict of interest.

Manley said he didn’t know anything about a potential second victim until the claim was made in court, but said that the suggestion is “unsubstantiated,” and that the prosecutor’s office has a “weak case” against his client and is engaging in a “smear” campaign.

Earlier, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy blasted what she called Cleaves’ clandestine “back-door arraignment.”

Related

• Mateen Cleaves, Former MSU Star, Charged with Sexual Assault
• Ex-Basketball Star’s ‘Back-Door’ Arraignment Irks Prosecutor

Manley said at the time that it was Worthy’s office that was playing games, and that announcement of the charges at the beginning of the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, to “bring special attention” to the case.

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 SuCperSonics and Cleveland Cavaliers.

Earlier this month, Mundy Township police officer Brian Ogle filed a civil whistleblower lawsuit in Genesee County in which he claimed the township, police department and Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office pressured him to portray Cleaves as guilty of the charges.