Bills first-round pick Maxwell Hairston accused of sexual assault in shocking lawsuit
The 21-year-old cornerback was named as a defendant in a civil lawsuit filed Tuesday after a woman, who identified herself as Rebecca Hendryx, per ESPN, alleges she was sexually assaulted by Hairston in 2021 when he was at the University of Kentucky.
The woman claims she and Hairston first met in early 2021 outside of the Kentucky residence hall that they both lived in.
4 Maxwell Hairston speaking to media after his NFL Draft selection.
AP
Then, on the night of March 24, Hairston is alleged to have come uninvited to the plaintiff's dorm room.
'Plaintiff inquired about the purpose of Defendant's visit, to which Defendant responded that he wanted to hang out with Plaintiff,' the lawsuit reads, per USA Today. 'Plaintiff declined and further expressed that she was tired and going to bed before turning around and walking away from the door.'
Hairston then allegedly entered anyway, forcibly removed Hendryx's pajama shorts and sexually assaulted her, ignoring her repeated refusals to engage in sexual contact.
The woman reported the alleged incident 'within hours' to law enforcement and received a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner exam at the hospital after speaking to police, according to ESPN.
Hendryx, who has since transferred out of the University of Kentucky, is reportedly seeking a jury trial and compensatory damages on all counts.
4 Maxwell Hairston during a Bills practice in May.
AP
'Our client showed remarkable strength in coming forward, and we are proud to stand with her in pursuit of accountability and justice,' one of the woman's attorneys, Peter Flowers, said, per USA Today. 'No one — regardless of their status or athletic success — is above the law.'
Buffalo selected Hairston with the 30th pick in April's draft after he spent three seasons with the Wildcats, during which he played 32 games, grabbed six interceptions and made 89 total tackles.
4 Hairston during his time at Kentucky.
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Bills general manager Brandon Beane mentioned a Title IX issue after the team drafted Hairston but praised his character and called him an 'impeccable kid', per The Athletic.
'We did a lot of research. I think all teams were aware of the Title IX thing. That was fully investigated by the school,' Beane said. 'He even volunteered to do a polygraph and had notes. It was one of those where there was zero information saying that this actually happened, to what the accusation was. You can't take someone's account and think that's the truth. But yes, we fully investigated that.'
4 Maxwell Hairston was all smiles after his draft selection.
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Beane added: 'Every person you talk to at Kentucky, teammates, staff there, plus what we've done, I would say this is a heck of a young man, every person you ask. That's unfortunate when things like that are attached to someone's name; in this case, it doesn't seem to be anything there.'
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