Lawyer for arrested UCLA water polo player: Sex was consensual

The attorney for a UCLA water polo player arrested for allegedly raping a female student says his client was dating the woman and the two had consensual sex.

The lawyer described the allegations against Hakop Jack Kaplanyan, 18, as “defamation” and said the investigation was incomplete, KABC-TV reported without naming the attorney.

Kaplanyan, a red-shirt freshman who plays the attacker position on the team, was arrested Wednesday. By Monday, he had been released on $200,000 bail.

He is due in court to face charges April 25.

UCLA officials said Kaplanyan “has been suspended from the university, subject to an appeal.” A statement from UCLA referred to the female student as an “acquaintance” of Kaplanyan’s and that she reported she was raped inside his residence hall.

The woman filed a report with campus police late April 2, and Kaplanyan was arrested without incident.

Interviewed by KTLA-TV, Kaplanyan’s mother said her son was innocent. As she defended him at the front door of the family’s Glendale home, her son looked on from the living room couch.

“It’s so easy for them to just accuse a person without, like, telling the truth,” Marine Kaplanyan told the TV station. “My son is innocent, I can tell you that and we’re going to prove that, because he’s not one of those guys.”

According to his profile on the UCLA Athletics site, Kaplanyan played at Hoover High School. He was a three-time first team All-CIF selection and was twice named the league MVP.

As a sophomore in 2009, he set what was then the CIF single-season record of 229 goals.

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