Marvin Johnson, who is set to join the University football team this fall, plead guilty to misdemeanor charges of criminal trespassing and harassment Monday morning in Lane County Circuit Court, according to a June 12 Athletics Department press release.
Johnson, 18, of Compton, Calif., had been previously admitted to the University. He and Major Marquis Culbert, 18, of San Pedro, Calif., were accused by police of entering a Barnhart Hall room during a January recruitment visit and groping two female students. The men were arrested and charged with burglary and sexual abuse in connection to the alleged incident.
Monday, Johnson’s charges were changed to criminal trespassing and harassment.
When the Athletics Department learned of the incident, it conducted its own investigation and determined that Johnson wasn’t directly involved and continued to recruit him, although it ceased to recruit Culbert. Culbert later signed a letter of intent at the University of Nebraska, according to May 24 Athletics Department press release.
An Athletics Department spokesman previously told the Emerald that the department had not seen a copy of the police investigation when it decided to sign Johnson. Police later said Johnson was just as involved in the incident as Culbert.
Johnson voluntarily turned himself in to Eugene police and was arraigned on May 24 before being released without bail.