MSU football players identified and charged with sexual assault

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EAST LANSING, Mich. (WJBK) - The three Michigan State University football players accused of sexual assault have been identified during a court hearing on Tuesday.

Josh King, Donnie Corley and Demetric Vance were named and charged on Tuesday with sexual assault. King faces the most serious charge of 1st degree sexual assault while Corley and Vance are both charged with 3rd degree sexual assault.

The players were all in the Lansing courtroom for the 'swear to' hearing where the evidence is presented.

The victim said King pulled her into a bathroom and forced her to perform oral sex and then raped her. She also said King forced her to perform oral sex on the other two defendants.

A detective in the case says all defendants initially denied having sex with the victim then changed their story. He also said that video of King having sex with the victim was found on his cell phone and that the victim did not consent to being recorded.

All three players were suspended in February but have not been identified until Tuesday in court.

Michigan State head football coach Mark Dantonio released this statement after Tuesday's court hearing and said that all three players would be dismissed from MSU, regardless of the outcome of the the criminal process:

“With the criminal sexual conduct charges filed against Josh King, Donnie Corley and Demetric Vance, I have decided that regardless of the final outcome of the criminal process, these three individuals have been dismissed from our program, effective immediately.

“When we choose student-athletes to come to MSU, we enter into a relationship with them and their families, and we welcome them into ours. We emphasize that success on the field is not enough, as I made clear when all three individuals were suspended four months ago upon us learning of the allegations. They also must embrace our core principles, which include integrity, respect and accountability. The individuals in this case put themselves in a compromising position and did not live up to the standards we have outlined for our program.

“Sexual assault has no place in our community, and I want to share my deep concern for the young woman affected and her family.

“This is an extremely challenging situation that we have taken very seriously and has affected everyone in this program. The high standards I have established for this program will not change, and the values that we teach to everyone in this program will be enforced. I expect all of our players and staff to conduct themselves in a manner that reflect the ideals of this university.”

King was a sophomore defensive end out of Illinois. He was one of the nation's top recruit's when he committed to Michigan State. He played in nine games in 2016, his freshman year at the program.

Corley was also a freshman in 2016 and is from Detroit. He played both wide receiver and corner back and played in 12 games last year.

Vance is a red sophomore from Detroit and did not appear in any games in 2016. He took a redshirt his year at MSU. A photo of Vance was not available from MSU athletics.

Karen Truszkowski, who represents the woman who filed the complaint, spoke to reporters Tuesday about her client's condition.

"She's strong, she's smart, she's capable - and she's in as good a place as anybody could be with what's happened to her," she said.

MSU football players identified and charged with sexual assault

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