Canadian diver charged with University of Utah dorm room rape

May 12, 2023, 11:08 AM | Updated: 1:56 pm

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A University of Utah diver has been arrested and charged with raping a young woman in her dorm room during the first week of the school year last fall.

Prosecutors have charged Ben Smyth, a Canadian diver in his second year at Utah, with sodomy, sexual abuse and rape. In an indictment filed this week, detectives say Smyth went to a woman’s dorm room after confirming she was alone last August. He asked her to play “truth or dare” and then allegedly raped her while she resisted physically, said she “did not want to do that,” shook her head no and told him she was in pain.

The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the details of Smyth’s arrest but said he was back in the United States. Scott Wilding, Smyth’s attorney, declined to comment on the charges or whether he had returned to surrender voluntarily or caught when his return to the country triggered the warrant.

The indictment, which does not name the woman, also says that when detectives went to serve Smyth with a protective order to keep him away from the woman, a roommate said he had moved out. A private investigator later told detectives that Smyth had returned to Canada upon learning he was under investigation for rape.

Court documents say when detectives interviewed Smyth, he initially denied knowing the woman but later acknowledged having sex with her and that she was in pain. Detectives also write that Smyth’s friends described him as bragging “about the number of women he has sex with,” which he compiled into a list to show others.

The University of Utah athletic department said in a statement that Smyth was suspended from the men’s swimming and diving team when the school was made aware of the allegations in February, before the Pac-12 Championships. Smyth did not compete this year but as a freshman took second in platform diving.

“We were made aware of a serious allegation involving a member of our men’s swimming and diving program. Upon being notified by the University’s Office of Equal Opportunity of a pending investigation, Ben Smyth was immediately suspended,” the department said.

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said earlier this week after a warrant for Smyth’s arrest was issued that his office was pursuing any means to return him to Utah. His office said did not say whether Smyth was in the state.

They declined to say whether he was in custody.

The diver’s arrest is at least the second time Pac-12 swimming and diving has confronted rape allegations in recent years. In 2016, Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner was found guilty of raping a woman after two graduate students caught him on top of an unconscious woman behind a dumpster on campus.

United States News

FILE - Attorneys and criminal justice advocates stand outside Louisiana's Supreme Court on May 10, ...

Associated Press

Historic acquittal in Louisiana fuels fight to review ‘Jim Crow’ verdicts

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Evangelisto Ramos walked out of a New Orleans courthouse and away from a life sentence accompanying a 10-2 jury conviction, thanks in large part to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision bearing his name. Ramos v. Louisiana outlawed nonunanimous jury convictions as unconstitutional, with justices on the 6-3 majority acknowledging the […]

1 day ago

Associated Press

Pay per wave: Native Hawaiians divided over artificial surf lagoon in the birthplace of surfing

EWA BEACH, Hawaii (AP) — Brian Keaulana is the quintessential Native Hawaiian waterman, well-known in Hawaii and beyond for his deep understanding of the ocean, gifted with surfing and lifeguarding skills passed down from his big-wave rider father. Now, as one of the islands’ standard-bearers of surfing, Keaulana wants to further boost the sport in […]

1 day ago

FILE — A man checks his footing as he wades through the Morris Canal Outlet in Jersey City, N.J.,...

Associated Press

As rising oceans threaten NYC, study documents another risk: The city is sinking

NEW YORK (AP) — If rising oceans aren’t worry enough, add this to the risks New York City faces: The metropolis is slowly sinking under the weight of its skyscrapers, homes, asphalt and humanity itself. New research estimates the city’s landmass is sinking at an average rate of 1 to 2 millimeters per year, something […]

1 day ago

This undated photo shows the late Army Cpl. Luther H. Story. The Army said Friday, May 19, 2023, th...

Associated Press

‘He’s home’: Missing 73 years, Medal of Honor recipient’s remains return to Georgia

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Soldiers of the 9th Infantry Regiment made a desperate retreat as North Korean troops closed in around them. A wounded, 18-year-old Army Pfc. Luther Herschel Story feared his injuries would slow down his company, so he stayed behind to cover their withdrawal. Story’s actions in the Korean War on Sept. 1, […]

1 day ago

A skeleton in sunglasses sits beside a sign reading "Just waiting for the insurance check," outside...

Associated Press

Struggles continue for thousands in Florida 8 months after Hurricane Ian as new storm season looms

FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Eight months ago, chef Michael Cellura had a restaurant job and had just moved into a fancy new camper home on Fort Myers Beach. Now, after Hurricane Ian swept all that away, he lives in his older Infiniti sedan with a 15-year-old long-haired chihuahua named Ginger. Like hundreds of […]

1 day ago

President Joe Biden speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Sunday, May 28, 2023, in Washi...

Associated Press

Takeaways on debt ceiling: McCarthy’s balancing act, Biden’s choice and the challenges ahead

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s a deal no one in Washington claims to really like. But after weeks of negotiations, President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have struck an agreement to raise the debt ceiling and avert a potentially devastating government default. The stakes are high for both men — and now each will […]

1 day ago

Sponsored Articles

...

OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center

5 mental health myths you didn’t know were made up

Helping individuals understand mental health diagnoses like obsessive compulsive spectrum disorder or generalized anxiety disorder isn’t always an easy undertaking. After all, our society tends to spread misconceptions about mental health like wildfire. This is why being mindful about how we talk about mental health is so important. We can either perpetuate misinformation about already […]

...

SANDERSON FORD

Thank you to Al McCoy for 51 years as voice of the Phoenix Suns

Sanderson Ford wants to share its thanks to Al McCoy for the impact he made in the Valley for more than a half-decade.

...

Desert Institute for Spine Care

Spinal fusion surgery has come a long way, despite misconceptions

As Dr. Justin Field of the Desert Institute for Spine Care explained, “we've come a long way over the last couple of decades.”

Canadian diver charged with University of Utah dorm room rape