Former San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle and CSN Bay Area 49ers analyst Dana Stubblefield has been formally charged with rape of a developmentally disabled woman. I had not planned on addressing this, but in the last 24 hours the story has taken on a life of its own.
The Santa Clara district attorney's office filed the charges (rape plus four other felonies) on Monday, May 2. The alleged incident occurred on April 9, 2015. Stubblefield allegedly contacted the woman through a nanny networking website, seeking a sitter for his children. Allegations state the woman went to his house, interviewed, left, returned to be "paid for her time", and was raped in that subsequent visit.
The woman went to the police immediately after and turned over the money. Stubblefield and his attorney claim the sex was consensual, and that "her being developmentally disabled is something that's unformed at this point." Stubblefield and his attorney conducted a press conference on Tuesday. They denied the charges, and according to TMZ, Stubblefield's attorney implied the DA waited this long so that the case would be closer to the election.
Stubblefield's attorney also claims his client passed a polygraph test. Those are often inadmissible in court due to issues of unreliability, but it seems pretty clear they are putting the pressure on public opinion with all this information and the press conference.
I'll be keeping an eye on this case, but I'm not sure how much I'll write about it. I at least figured it was worth getting it on people's radar.