Victim's Mom: I Alerted RU About Recruit

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

BY BRAD PARKS
Star-Ledger Staff

The mother of the girl sexually assaulted by one-time Rutgers football recruit Reggie Dixon said she contacted the school repeatedly during the recruiting process to warn administrators about the Plainfield star's past.

"I called Rutgers so many times," said the victim's mother, whose name is being withheld by The Star-Ledger because her daughter is the victim of a sex crime. "I spoke with a lot of people in the athletic department, and every one of them pushed me off on someone else."

Rutgers signed Dixon to a national letter of intent on March 31 and did not rescind that offer until early Monday evening, an hour before ESPN went on the air with a report about Dixon's crime on "SportsCenter."

"Based on the most recent review, we feel it is in the best interests of all parties involved for Rutgers University to release Reggie Dixon from his national letter of intent," Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said in a prepared statement at that time.

Yesterday Schiano declined to discuss Dixon or the allegations made by the victim's mother.

Last August Dixon was sentenced in Union County juvenile court to three years' probation on two counts of aggravated sexual assault on a nonblood relative. At the time he was 17 and she was 15.

Rutgers was among many schools across the nation recruiting Dixon, a Star-Ledger All-Union County scatback who excelled at returning kicks. His speed also helped him in track and field. He won the New Jersey 55-meter dash two years in a row and recorded the second-fastest time (6.31 seconds) in state history.

As Dixon narrowed down his choices during the fall and winter, the mother of the girl he sexually assaulted said she contacted several schools interested in Dixon, telling each of them she planned to take her story to news organizations.

"To me, parents have a right to know where they're sending their daughters to school," the victim's mother said.

The victim's mother said her final contact with a Rutgers administrator was with Jason Baum, the school's assistant director of athletics for football media/public relations.

"He told me he would call me back and he never did," the victim's mother said.

Baum declined comment, saying Schiano spoke for the program. Rutgers athletic director Bob Mulcahy also declined an interview request through a spokesman.

"We've commented on the situation and we have nothing more to say," said John Wooding, Rutgers' sports information director.