With the No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers off to a great start and Jonathan Taylor looking like the best running back in the country, there really hasn't been a need to have suspended junior wide receiver Quintez Cephus on the field during the non-conference so far. Chances are they will now have to be without their top returning pass catcher for the entire 2018 season and possibly ever again.
Appearing at the Dane County Courthouse on Tuesday, the Associate Press reports Dane County Circuit Judge Jill Karosky rejected a motion from attorneys to dismiss one of the counts against the football player and ordered Cephus to stand trial on sexual assault charges involving two women in his apartment this past April.
Cephus was charged with second-and-third degree sexual assault in August, which are both felonies. The second-degree change carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, according to the Associated Press.
Cephus' attorneys were seeking to dismiss one of the counts, alleging the two women weren't as impaired as investigators said. The criminal complaint states Cephus sexually assaulted two drunken women at once in the bedroom at his apartment, per the report.
Judge Karosky refused to drop the charge and felt there was enough other evidence and probable cause in the complaint to support it.
A 20-year-old from Macon, Georgia, the 6-foot-1 Cephus, who was suspended indefinitely from the Wisconsin team when charges were filed, did not testify during the hearing, but gave a brief statement to reporters.
"I know the truth, they know the truth. I look forward to clearing my name and fighting for who I am," Cephus said.
Cephus had 501 receiving yards with a team-high six touchdowns for the Badgers in 2017 and was expected to be a major part of the offense this season after recovering from a broken right leg he suffered last November.
No trial date has been set.
