Ex-Michigan State player Auston Robertson arraigned, bond set at $250K
MASON – Former Michigan State football player Auston Robertson was arraigned today on a third-degree criminal sexual conduct charge in 55th District Court.
Magistrate Mark Blumer set bond at $250,000, and Robertson can be bailed out for 10%, or $25,000. He cannot leave the state without court approval, will be affixed with a GPS tether and has been ordered to have no contact with his alleged victim, among other conditions and restrictions.
Robertson is accused of raping a female MSU student on April 9 in her apartment in Meridian Township, near East Lansing. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
The 19-year-old will have a pre-conference examination at 8:30 a.m. May 4. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. May 11 in front of Judge Thomas P. Boyd in 55th District Court.
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United States Marshals, with the help of Ft. Wayne (Ind.) Police, arrested Robertson without incident around 5:50 p.m. Saturday at his mother’s house in his hometown. He waived his extradition rights Monday in Allen County Superior Court 4 and was transported to Mason today.
Blumer said Robertson leaving Michigan showed “evidence of flight to avoid prosecution” in raising his bond from the $75,000 he initially set it at.
Robertson’s attorney, David Rosenberg, said he had been working with Meridian Township Police “for about five or six days, at least” to make arrangements for Robertson to surrender voluntarily and argued he is not a flight risk. Rosenberg said Robertson had been threatened by “fellow students” and did not want his client to return to the MSU dorms.
An MSU spokesperson confirmed that Robertson remains a student. Coach Mark Dantonio dismissed him from the football team after charges were issued Friday.
It is the second serious allegation of physical misconduct levied against Robertson. He was arrested in January 2016 on a misdemeanor battery charge stemming from an October 2015 incident at his high school, Wayne High. Robertson was accused of improperly touching a female classmate, according to Allen Superior Court 4 records. He entered into a diversionary program for that case, which he completed March 11.
Those charges were cleared from his record March 22 – 18 days before the latest allegations against him – after he fulfilled the terms of his diversionary program and by not getting into further trouble, according to court records.
Robertson also had charges dropped in September 2015 after allegations of criminal mischief/damaging property and resisting law enforcement, according to Allen Superior Court 5 records.
Dantonio said Robertson “underwent an extensive educational process” that included “daily supervised sessions within the football program and regular meetings with university staff addressing appropriate behavior and developmental growth.”
“Despite these measures,” Dantonio said, “Auston broke our trust and expectations by putting himself in a compromising situation.”
Robertson had walked the woman to her apartment sometime after 11 p.m. on April 8 to make sure she got there safely, and then once they were inside the apartment he “forcefully” had sex with the woman despite her "telling him to stop and telling him no," Meridian Township Police Detective Rebecca Payne testified during a hearing Friday morning.
“I haven’t seen the discovery, I haven’t seen the police reports. I don’t know the complete nature of the charges against Auston,” Rosenberg said. “We have investigators out talking to witnesses and we’re going to build our defense.”
The 6-foot-4, 281-pound Robertson, who was a four-star recruit, played seven games as a true freshman for the Spartans during the 2016 season. He made three tackles and forced a fumble. Robertson also played defensive end during MSU’s spring game on April 1.
The incident allegedly involving Robertson is separate from the ongoing criminal investigation into three other unnamed MSU players and a staff member who the university announced were suspended Feb. 9. That case remains under review by the Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office.
Contact Chris Solari:csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari.