JMU WR Stapleton Pleads No Contest To False Imprisonment Charge

HARRISONBURG — James Madison wide receiver Riley Stapleton pleaded no contest to a charge of false imprisonment on Tuesday in Indiana County Common Pleas Court, according to the Indiana (Pa.) Gazette.

The newspaper reported Stapleton was placed on probation for one year after he admitted to restraining his former girlfriend at a house party in June of 2017 in Indiana, Pa.

“We are aware of the legal proceedings and this week’s court findings involving one our football student-athletes, Riley Stapleton,” the James Madison athletic department said in a statement released through the school’s associate athletic director for communications Kevin Warner. “We are extremely disappointed in Riley’s actions and will issue punishment in line with the court’s findings. We will be meeting with the student athlete to communicate his punishment and then will release that accordingly.”

Investigators said that Stapleton prevented the victim from leaving the bathroom of a house the night of the incident, the Gazette reported.

According to a criminal complaint filed by Special Agent Aprill-Noelle Campbell, Stapleton tried to have indecent contact with her first when he shoved her against a sink and, “[used] all his weight against her and was keeping her in place with his arm,” and again after he shoved her into the shower and turned the water on her, the report stated.

Stapleton told police in June of 2017 he had no memory of the incident due to, “being blacked out” from drinking too much alcohol, the Gazette reported.

Stapleton, a rising senior at Madison, is the Dukes’ No. 1 wide receiver and was a second-team All-Colonial Athletic Association choice this past fall. In 37 career games, he’s recorded 104 catches for 1,325 yards and 12 touchdowns.