[UPDATED] Jesse Cheng, UC Student Regent, Was Arrested for Alleged Sexual Battery on Female Student in His Apartment Near UCI, DA Didn't File Charges
CLICK HERE FOR UPDATE ON STUDENT CONDUCT OFFICE RULING AGAINST JESSE CHENG
UPDATE, FEB. 21, 12:07 P.M.: As promised, UC student regent and UC Irvine campus leader Jesse Cheng has issued a statement regarding his sexual-battery arrest, the lack of criminal charges filed against him and the motivations of his accuser going public with the case.
In the statement, Cheng provides more detail than anyone else has publicly about what happened the night of Oct. 3, 2010; reiterates he does not know why his "former partner" chose to speak to the media now; and ends by saying, "I loved her very much, and I really wish for her the best in the future."
His full statement follows after the jump. . . .
UPDATE, FEB. 21, 12:07 P.M.: As promised, UC student regent and UC Irvine campus leader Jesse Cheng has issued a statement regarding his sexual-battery arrest, the lack of criminal charges filed against him and the motivations of his accuser going public with the case.
In the statement, Cheng provides more detail than anyone else has publicly about what happened the night of Oct. 3, 2010; reiterates he does not know why his "former partner" chose to speak to the media now; and ends by saying, "I loved her very much, and I really wish for her the best in the future."
His full statement follows after the jump. . . .
I'm writing this statement to respond to a number of accusations made about me in various media outlets in the last week. Initially, I did not feel it was appropriate to comment because I was trying to defend the interests and privacy of all the students involved, including my former partner. I now feel like I have no choice but to explain fully what occurred.
I am innocent of all accusations made. These accusations have been extremely painful for me, especially because I have tried to acknowledge the privileges that I have as a man and support gender equality issues throughout my college career. It is work that is essential to my identity, and I would never engage in behavior that would compromise those values.
My former partner and I were in a committed relationship for almost a year. Near the end of the year, it was clear that the relationship was not working out, and I initiated the break up.
Afterward, we agreed to remain friends. We saw each other three times after the relationship ended, all three times we engaged in varying levels of consensual physical contact, none of which was forced or coerced, none of which was intercourse. The first time she invited me to be her date to a UCLA graduate school event. The next week, on Oct. 3, the night that would become the source of the accusations against me, I invited her over for dinner at my apartment in Irvine. That night, although we we engaged in kissing, all contact was consensual and we did not have sex. Afterward, we ate dinner at my apartment and watched a movie.
A week after this visit, she called me, and accused me of sexually assaulting her the week before. The phone conversation lasted for hours. My reaction during the phone call was that her description of events did not happen. In the following weeks, I would get as many as 50 calls a day from her. The amount of phone calls became extremely stressful and disruptive.
During the time of these phone calls, she requested I meet her personally at her apartment. I visited her apartment two weeks after Oct. 3. During that visit, she initiated and engaged physical intimacy. It was the third time we met after the break up, and a few weeks after the night she had claimed I behaved inappropriately.
The phone calls continued, and began to have a serious toll on my well-being. She demanded that I write e-mail apologies to her, and specifying exact language that she wanted to see in those e-mails. Exhausted, I sent out those e-mails. What I said in those e-mails are not true and did not reflect my behavior, but I thought that by adopting her language and meeting the standards she set out, we could both move forward. I regret lying to her in those e-mails, and it was a mistake to capitulate just so she would stop calling me incessantly.
On Nov. 4, the police arrested me on campus and took me back to the police department for questioning. We spoke about the relationship, that particular night and the entire situation. Three hours later, the police released me, and the DA declined to press any charges.
I know this last week has been extremely difficult for the campus community. It has been difficult for me and my friends. I would ask people to please thoughtfully consider both sides of a story and the entire context of a relationship before jumping to conclusions or making assumptions. I do not know why my former partner has chosen to make these accusations or make them at this time. I loved her very much, and I really wish for her the best in the future.
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