Police report lays out details, timeline of sexual assault allegation : NPR

The girl who accused then-Fox Information host Pete Hegseth of sexual assault in 2017 mentioned that whereas she didn’t have an entire recollection of the evening in query, she “remembered saying ‘no’ loads” and alleged that he prevented her from leaving his lodge room, in accordance with a police report from the Monterey, Calif., police division.

The report, which was launched to NPR and different shops after a public data request, offers further particulars concerning the incident involving the woman and Hegseth, who was named final week as President-elect Donald Trump’s selection for Secretary of Protection.

On Thursday, Karoline Leavitt, Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman mentioned in assertion: “This report corroborates what Mr. Hegseth’s attorneys have mentioned all alongside: the incident was totally investigated, and no costs have been filed as a result of police discovered the allegations to be false. Pete Hegseth is a highly-respected Fight Veteran who will honorably serve our nation when he’s confirmed as the following Secretary of Protection, identical to he honorably served our nation on the battlefield in uniform.”

The allegation towards Hegseth got here into public view simply days after President-elect Donald Trump introduced him as his nominee for Secretary of Protection, adding to scrutiny of the longtime TV persona’s {qualifications} to guide the Division of Protection.

Hegseth, 44, stopped working at Fox Information final week after his nomination was introduced. His legal professional, Timothy Parlatore, mentioned that whereas Hegseth denies the allegations by his accuser, he settled together with her a number of years in the past, to forestall her from submitting a lawsuit that might harm his tv profession. 

“This police report confirms what I’ve mentioned all alongside,” Parlatore informed NPR through e-mail, “that the incident was totally investigated and police discovered the allegations to be false, which is why no costs have been filed.”

Monterey County District Legal professional Jeannine M. Pacioni mentioned in an announcement to NPR that her workplace declined to pursue the case in early 2018, after figuring out that “No costs have been supported by proof past an inexpensive doubt.”

What do the 2 sides say?

The girl is recognized solely as Jane Doe within the police doc. She informed an investigator that late one evening, whereas in Hegseth’s room at a lodge that was internet hosting a Republican ladies’s convention, he took her cellphone and “blocked the door together with his physique,” in accordance with the report.

She additionally mentioned they then had a sexual encounter, and within the ensuing days as different occasions triggered recollections, she “went to the hospital as a result of she believed she was sexually assaulted by [Hegseth],” an officer wrote within the report.

The incidents described within the police report occurred over a number of hours, from Saturday night, Oct. 7, into the early hours of Sunday, Oct. 8. When police contacted Hegseth later that month, his model of occasions differed from Doe’s; as he informed an investigator that he and Doe had had intercourse — however that it was consensual.

Each Hegseth and Doe say they’d been ingesting alcohol that evening, as they and others moved from a banquet and speech to an afterparty after which late-night drinks on the bar on the Hyatt Regency Monterey Lodge and Spa.

The resort was internet hosting a convention and celebration for the California Federation of Republican Girls. Doe, a staffer for the group, was staying on the lodge together with her husband.

Why is the report popping out now?

Metropolis Legal professional Christine Davi says her workplace decided that it might launch the redacted police report as a result of Hegseth had been given a replica of the identical doc in March of 2021 — rendering it now not exempt from launch beneath the state’s public data legal guidelines.

Different data, together with a separate police report from one other company; a Kaiser Permanente report; an audio recording; surveillance footage; {a photograph}; and a memo from the Monterey County District Legal professional’s Workplace stay confidential, Davi says.

What about accounts from witnesses and video?

Witnesses describe roughly the identical normal arc of motion, as Hegseth, Doe and others moved from the lodge’s convention middle and ballroom to an after celebration spanning a number of suites. Later, Doe and Hegseth have been a part of a smaller group that went to the lodge’s bar, referred to as Knuckles Sports activities Bar.

Witnesses and lodge data said that Hegseth and Doe had a loud argument alongside the pool deck round 1:30 a.m. — prompting an worker to ask them to be quiet.

Hegseth responded by cursing on the worker and saying “he had freedom of speech,” in accordance with the police report. Doe then intervened, telling the worker “that they have been Republicans and apologized” for Hegseth’s conduct.

The worker mentioned Hegseth and Doe left quickly afterward. They ended up in Constructing 5, room 528 — Hegseth’s room.

Textual content messages submitted together with a police report present conversations about Pete Hegseth, who spoke at a convention held by Republican ladies in Monterey, Calif.

Monterey Metropolis Legal professional’s Offce / Screenshot by NPR

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Monterey Metropolis Legal professional’s Offce / Screenshot by NPR

What did Jane Doe inform police?

In textual content messages Doe shared with police, she talked about assembly Hegseth on the convention, together with a message saying, “our girls are freaking drooling over him.”

A few of Doe’s texts have been in conversations together with her husband. A few of them indicated that she was not impressed with Hegseth, noting, “He wears a hoop on his pointer finger. It creeps me out.”

Later within the night, Doe informed investigators, she noticed Hegseth “appearing inappropriately,” rubbing ladies’s legs, and “giving off a ‘creeper’ vibe,” in accordance with the report.

In her statements to police, Doe described how recollections of that evening got here again to her. Of the go to to Knuckles bar, she mentioned, “that is when issues bought fuzzy.”

She informed police that she recalled arguing with Hegseth close to the pool, saying it was about how he was treating ladies on the convention. Doe remembered Hegseth telling her “that he was a pleasant man,” in accordance with the report.

“[Doe] said the following reminiscence she had was when she was in an unknown room,” in accordance with the police report. “[Doe] didn’t know the place she was and the way she bought to the room. [Hegseth] was within the room together with her.”

The report states that the girl mentioned Hegseth requested who she was texting with and took her cellphone. Doe informed police that she then tried to go away the room, however Hegseth blocked the door.

“[Doe] remembered saying “no” loads. [Doe] said she didn’t keep in mind a lot else. [Doe’s] subsequent reminiscence was when she was on a mattress or a sofa and [Hegseth] was over her. [Hegseth’s] canine tags have been hovering over her face.”

What did Hegseth inform police?

Hegseth informed police that he delivered the keynote speech on the convention. Later, he mentioned, he went upstairs to the after-party the place he drank beer. He mentioned that he and others then went to the lodge bar. Police say that the lodge’s surveillance footage reveals him, Doe and one other girl strolling to the bar, in a video time-stamped near midnight.

Hegseth mentioned that nobody on the bar was “blacked out drunk,” and that whereas he was “buzzed,” he wasn’t intoxicated, in accordance with the report.

Hegseth informed police he did not keep in mind having an argument on the pool. He mentioned he was confused that Doe went again to his lodge room with him, as a result of they’d not talked as a lot as he did with others. Hegseth maintained that any bodily interplay between them was consensual. Afterward, he mentioned, Doe informed him she would inform her husband that she had fallen asleep on a sofa in another person’s room.

Earlier than Doe left his room, Hegseth mentioned, he informed her he would keep quiet about what had occurred — however he added that she “confirmed early indicators of remorse.” He didn’t specify what these indicators have been.

How did the police get entangled?

Police have been alerted when a Kaiser Permanente nurse referred to as them on Oct. 12, 2017, reporting {that a} girl had are available requesting a sexual assault examination. The affected person needed to stay nameless — referred to as Jane Doe — and she or he initially didn’t inform police Hegseth’s title both, in accordance with the report.

The nurse mentioned the affected person was referred to an emergency room for an examination.

The 22-page police report contains enter from not less than three officers, starting with the officer who dealt with the preliminary name to an investigator who adopted up and spoke with Doe, different ladies who have been together with her that evening; lodge workers; and Hegseth himself.

The report concludes with a suggestion to ahead the case to the Monterey County District Legal professional’s Workplace for evaluation. It lists the potential prison offense as “Rape: sufferer unconscious of the character of the act” — citing California penal code section 261(a) (4). Underneath state regulation, rape is assessed as a felony punishable by three to eight years in jail.