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Rutgers student accuses East Bay alum Marques Ford of sexual assault

 
Marques Ford (56), from East Bay High School in Gibsonton, was an Under Armour All-American and four-star recruit. (Monica Herndon, Times)
Marques Ford (56), from East Bay High School in Gibsonton, was an Under Armour All-American and four-star recruit. (Monica Herndon, Times)
Published Nov. 22, 2016

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — A lawsuit recently filed by a Rutgers University student alleges that she was sexually assaulted by two former Scarlet Knight football players during her freshman year last fall.

The complaint, filed last week in Middlesex County, states that Marques Ford (East Bay High) and John Bowers sexually assaulted the victim at an on-campus apartment that housed several football players on Nov. 14, 2015.

The victim, a minor at the time, says she drank too much and was too incapacitated to give consent on the night she was assaulted.

The lawsuit claims that Rutgers was "deliberately indifferent" to the victim's accusations.

Ford and Bowers were both suspended from the team Nov. 19, 2015, and have since left the school. They weren't immediately available for comment.

Ford, a four-star defensive end who is currently at Jones County Junior College in Mississippi — along with former Nature Coast standout running back DeShawn Smith — recently committed to East Carolina.

Rutgers officials declined to comment on pending litigation.