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UNM running back Crusoe Gongbay posted bail and was released from jail early Tuesday morning.
On Monday, Gongbay, a 20-year-old UNM student, turned himself in to police shortly before 5 p.m. He faces two counts of sexual penetration, one count of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy. Gongbay’s bail was set at $50,000.
Hours after his release, Gongbay posted a message from his Twitter account, @CrusoeGongbay.
“Lol sometimes people just out here to get you when you got a future ahead of you,” Gongbay tweeted.
UNMPD on Monday also arrested another suspect, Ryan Ruff, who is not a student at UNM. Ruff is still in custody and his bond is set at $100,000.
Ruff has been in trouble with the law before. In Cheltenham, Md., Ruff was arrested once for fourth-degree attempted burglary and once for theft less than $100. Both instances happened in June 2011.
The prosecutor decided not to file charges against Ruff in the attempted burglary case. Ruff pled guilty in the theft case resulting in unsupervised probation that ended in Nov. 8, 2012.
UNMPD is looking for a third suspect in connection to the rape in question. UNMPD has described the third man as 6 feet tall and 180 pounds with dark complexion, short hair on the sides and longer on the head.
Gongbay might face further University sanctions, as two UNM departments have started a separate investigation of the Lobo football player’s charges of kidnapping and rape.
According to a statement from UNM’s Dean of Students, the Office of Student Conduct and the Office of Equal Opportunity are conducting a joint investigation to determine “if the alleged perpetrator/perpetrators are found responsible” for the rape incident.
But Dean of Students Tomás Aguirre said UNM’s joint investigation on Gongbay’s violation of the Student Code of Conduct will not take into account the criminal charges pressed by the UNM Police Department. Aguirre said the offices started the joint investigation Monday.
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“We just look at the behavior and the allegations,” Aguirre said.“We don’t look at anybody else’s investigation. Anything that UNMPD and APD are looking at, that’s not a part of our investigation… Whether the police arrest the suspect or don’t arrest the suspect, it doesn’t matter to us.”
Gongbay is currently suspended from UNM’s football team.
Aguirre said that if proven that “he was responsible for sexually assaulting the student,” Gongbay might face expulsion from the University. Through the investigation, the Office of Student Conduct could also issue an interim suspension if it determines that Gongbay could be a threat to other students on campus.
Now that Gongbay has been bailed out of jail, he can resume attending his classes on campus, Aguirre said. He said Gongbay will not face any disciplinary action until the joint investigation is concluded.
Aguirre said UNM does not have a set timeline for the joint investigation. He said he could not elaborate more on specifics of the investigation.
Police also continue to investigate Gongbay’s case.
UNMPD public information officer Tim Stump said his department might not have final results ready for a couple of weeks. He said UNMPD has sent material evidence for laboratory assessments.
Stump said UNMPD did not inform the public immediately after the assault happened last week because police wanted to be thorough.
“We had to do a preliminary investigation,” he said. “We had to look into the allegations that were made. And there’s a victim involved in this, so just because of the sensitive nature, it wasn’t something that we needed to get out.”
The sexual assault incident was reported on April 13, eight days before UNMPD held a press conference regarding the case. According to the Lobo, the female student told a community assistant at Casas del Rio that she was a victim of a sexual assault after she had returned to her dorm room that day.
The assault allegedly took place in a moving vehicle, but UNMPD did not give further details of the incident.
Stump said that as part of the preliminary investigation, the female student underwent medical exams. He declined to elaborate on further components of the preliminary investigations.
At the moment, the student is undergoing counselling through various sexual assault resources, Stump said.
“She’s undergoing all the avenues that we have in the University,” he said. “We have a (Sexual Assault Response Unit), and we had the dean of students reach out.”
According to the statement, Aguirre “has met with the survivor and her family and offered our support and any other accommodations she might need.”
Although this sexual assault case is not unique to UNM, it is still a tragic incident, Aguirre said. He said his office aims to continue to educate students about sexual consent to prevent subsequent sexual assault incidents.
“Sexual assaults, unfortunately, occur at every college campus in the United States,” he said. “We just need to make sure that this is a safe community, and we’re giving our students the right information and educating them.”
UNMPD asks that anyone with information on the third individual contact police at 505-277-2241.
