UNC football player Allen Artis responded through his lawyer Friday afternoon after he was charged with misdemeanor assault on a female and sexual battery earlier this week.
Sophomore Delaney Robinson held a press conference Tuesday alongside her lawyer Denise Branch in which she said she was sexually assaulted on Valentine's Day and that investigators mishandled the case.
Robinson and Branch filed self-sworn warrants against Artis for the two misdemeanor charges.
"What happened that night was consensual sex between two people who had the ability to consent," said Artis's lawyer Kerry Sutton, of the North Carolina firm Sutton & Lindsay.
Artis turned himself in to police Wednesday in response to the warrants and has been indefinitely suspended from the football team. Sutton said Artis has not been attending classes since the press conference, although she said he is free to return to class at any time.
"This has been so distressing for him, the entire process, not to mention the chaos that has been created in his life this week since the press conference," Sutton said. "He has not been on campus. He's been avoiding any coverage. He is distraught."
Sutton said Artis has been cooperating fully with investigators and University officials.
"None of us wants anyone to rush to judgment on any situation like this that could have a severe impact on someone's life," she said.
