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Raiders GM: ‘We did our due diligence’ before drafting Gareon Conley, who has been accused of rape

Former Ohio State cornerback Gareon Conley runs a drill at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis on March 6.
(David J. Phillip / Associated Press)
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Former Ohio State cornerback Gareon Conley was a rising star in the weeks leading up to the NFL draft until news that he had been accused of rape became public on Tuesday, two days before the first round.

Conley hasn’t been arrested or charged, but an investigation into the allegation is ongoing.

Suddenly, it was anyone’s guess what team would take a chance by drafting Conley. The Oakland Raiders ended the suspense Thursday night by taking the 6-foot, 195-pound player with the 24th overall pick.

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“We did our due diligence throughout this whole process and we trust our research, reports, everything we have on Mr. Conley, and we feel really good about picking Gareon Conley and having him join the Raider team and having him be a great teammate for our players,” Raiders General Manager Reggie McKenzie said.

“The research was done, and it wasn’t just a gut [instinct]; it was based on research, and we are very confident in all the information that we gathered.”

A 23-year-old woman claimed that Conley sexually assaulted her in his Cleveland hotel room on April 9, according to a police report. Conley has called the allegations “completely false,” and said he took a lie detector test for an NFL team Thursday in the hours leading up to the draft.

NFL teams received an email Thursday evening from attorney William D. Evans, who said he conducted Conley’s polygraph examination and that “it is my opinion he did not commit the sexual assault as alleged.”

Conley told reporters during a conference call after the first round of the draft: “I took a test today that helps, and when I make my statement and with all the evidence that I have, I feel confident that it will be resolved.”

McKenzie wouldn’t say if the polygraph test had any influence on the team’s decision to draft Conley.

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“I don’t want to get into the specifics of what was done or what wasn’t done,’’ McKenzie told Sports Illustrated. “I can tell you that if our due diligence had turned out the other way, we would not have picked the player.”

Conley planned to attend the draft in Philadelphia but left town after the rape allegation became public. He called being picked by the Raiders “the best moment of my life.”

“Just to know that they have faith in me, not even just as a football player but as a person, like that, it speaks highly of them and I really appreciate it,” Conley said. “It’s an honor to be a part of the Raider organization.”

charles.schilken@latimes.com

Twitter: @chewkiii

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