No criminal charges will be filed against former Xavier forward Dezmine Wells, Shannon Russell of the Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting.
According to a release from Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters, the case being reviewed involved allegations of sexual assault against Wells, who was expelled from Xavier earlier this month.
“We always take allegations of this nature very seriously,” Deters said in the release. “I assigned senior assistant prosecutors to this case to review all of the evidence and to conduct a complete presentation to the Hamilton County Grand Jury.
“After this office conducted an independent review of all of the evidence, it was presented to a Grand Jury yesterday. The Grand Jury declined to charge Dezmine Wells with any criminal offense.”
As for Wells’ expulsion from the school, reports say it was for a “serious violation” of the school’s conduct policy, reportedly of a sexual nature.
Wells, a North Carolina native, averaged 9.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game this past season for Xavier and was named to the Atlantic-10 all-rookie team.
Last season he was suspended four games for his part in the on-court brawl that took place between Cincinnati and Xavier in December. With his departure, coach Chris Mack’s team has now lost all five starters from a team that reached the Sweet 16 in 2011-12.
Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_