Salt Lake City, Utah: No. 10 Utah Suspends Jamal Wallace After Arrest on Intimate Image Charges

No. 10 Utah has suspended reserve defensive tackle Jamal Wallace indefinitely after his arrest earlier this month in Salt Lake City, the Associated Press reported on Friday, October 23. The university confirmed the suspension in a statement on Thursday, a day before the Utes host No. 14 Houston.

"We were made aware of the situation with Jamal Wallace on Oct. 11 and he was immediately placed on an indefinite suspension from the program," the school said in the statement. "We take these matters seriously. As this is a pending legal matter we have no further comment at this time."

What police say happened

According to KSL-TV in Salt Lake City, which cited a probable cause statement, a woman Wallace had been dating told police the two met on October 9 to talk about infidelity and their relationship. She told police Wallace grabbed her head and forced her to perform oral sex, and later forcibly had sex with her, according to the documents reported by KSL.

She also told police Wallace used her cellphone to take video of the incident and sent it to five people on Snapchat. Salt Lake City police said they found videos of the incident in which the phone was "in his possession," the station reported. The woman is not named in any of the reports.

The charges and his denial

Wallace was charged with five counts of distribution of an intimate image. He was processed at the Salt Lake County Jail on October 11 and released a day later after posting $5,000 bail, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by the Deseret News, Wallace denied the allegations of forcible sodomy, rape and distributing the intimate images when a police officer interviewed him. He told officers he had accessed the woman's Snapchat account to see whom she had been communicating with, the Tribune reported, citing the arrest document.

As of Wednesday evening, Wallace was not facing charges related to the rape allegations, Reuters reported. The only charges filed are the five intimate image counts, and the case remains a pending legal matter.

His time at Utah

Wallace is a senior who transferred to Utah in January. He spent the previous two seasons at Tennessee after starting his college career at Sierra College, a junior college. He appeared for the Utes only once this season, in the opener against Idaho.

Utah hosts No. 14 Houston on Saturday in Salt Lake City. The university has not said anything further about Wallace's status with the program, and he remains suspended while the legal case moves forward.