Football Player Charged with Sexual Assault

A Midwestern State University freshman and former Wichita Falls High School sports standout was in jail Tuesday after his arrest Monday on a charge of sexual assault.

Rodney Roshunn Higgins Jr., 19, of Wichita Falls, was arrested Monday as part of an investigation into a sexual assault report from MSU's Killingsworth Hall Sunday.

MSU Police Chief Patrick Coggins said campus officers received the report late Sunday.

According to the arrest affidavit submitted by MSU police:

The victim reported she entered her room to find a man already there. The man grabbed her wrist and threw her to the floor. She said she was able to fight off the man and stand up, but he grabbed her again and forced her down onto the bed and sexually assaulted her.

During the course of the struggle, the victim was able to send an SOS message to two female friends, who drove back to campus and ran to the room, where they clearly saw the perpetrator. When the man saw them, he grabbed his shirt and shorts and ran out of the room. The victim said she was sure the man was an MSU football player.

After looking through the MSU Mustang football team website, one of the friends said she "was positive Higgins was the person assaulting the victim."

The victim also identified Higgins as her probable assailant after scanning through the pictures on the website.

Coggins said the investigation is ongoing.

Higgins was a three-sport letterman at Old High, where he was a member of the football, track and basketball team, and played in last year's Oil Bowl game. Higgins signed with the MSU Mustangs in February 2016 to play football. He is listed on the team's roster as a cornerback, but has yet to play a down. An athletics administrator said Tuesday Higgins had been suspended from the team prior to the alleged assault.

Higgins' bond was set at $20,000 and he was in the Wichita County Jail Tuesday.

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