BYU star receiver Parker Kingston charged with felony rape
-
Click here to listen to this article - Share via
- BYU receiver Parker Kingston has been charged with first-degree felony rape in connection with an alleged assault in February 2025.
- The 21-year-old had a breakout 2025 season, recording 67 receptions for 928 yards and five touchdowns as BYU’s leading receiver.
Brigham Young receiver Parker Kingston has been charged with first-degree felony rape by prosecutors in Utah.
The Washington County attorney’s office announced the charges on Wednesday, almost a year after a 20-year-old woman told officers at St. George Regional Hospital that Kingston had sexually assaulted her on Feb. 23, 2025.
The St. George Police Department gathered digital and forensic evidence and interviewed the involved parties and other witnesses before turning the information over to the Washington County attorney’s office for review.
Kingston, 21, is being held without bail and is scheduled to appear in Utah’s 5th Judicial District Court on Friday afternoon. Court documents do not list an attorney for Kingston, who did not immediately respond to a message from the Associated Press seeking comment. A phone message left for his family was not immediately returned, according to the AP.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed by St. George Police Det. Cody Layton, the accuser told a forensic interviewer that she had made it clear to Kingston before they met in person that she did not want to have sex with him. On the day of the alleged incident, the document states, the accuser and Kingston were watching a movie at her residence and “began to engage in some sexual activity, however that did not include intercourse.”
At least 15 minutes after that activity ended, the filing states, Kingston later initiated sexual activity again. The accuser told the forensic interviewer “that she told Kingston to stop several times and tried to push him off of her” before he raped her, according to the affidavit.
The document states that Kingston told investigators that all sexual activity with his accuser during the alleged incident was consensual.
Richard Tillman, the youngest brother of late NFL star Pat Tillman, pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to setting fire to a San Jose post office last summer.
Kingston has been with the Cougars for four years and has one season of college eligibility remaining. In a breakout 2025 season, he had 67 receptions for 928 yards and five touchdowns with 119 yards and three touchdowns rushing. Over the last two seasons, Kingston has also returned three punts for touchdowns.
“BYU became aware today of the arrest of Parker Kingston,” the school said Wednesday in a statement. “The university takes any allegation very seriously, and will cooperate with law enforcement. Due to federal and university privacy laws and practices for students, the university will not be able to provide additional comment.”
Last year, then-BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff was accused in a civil lawsuit of raping a woman in November 2023. Retzlaff contended that the sex was consensual, and the parties agreed to dismiss the case with prejudice in June. Facing suspension for violating a BYU honor code that requires students to abstain from premarital sex, Retzlaff transferred to Tulane.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
