Report: Police warned accuser about pursuing Jameis Winston sexual assault case

Jameis Winston's name was linked to a year-old sexual battery case. (Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) A Tallahassee detective allegedly told an accuser's attorney

Jameis Winston's name was linked to a year-old sexual battery case. (Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

A Tallahassee detective allegedly told an accuser's attorney that Tallahassee is a "big football town" and her client's life could "be made miserable" if she pursued a sexual assault case against Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston, reports Matt Baker of Tampa Bay Times.

Those accusations were made by the alleged victim's family in a statement released to the newspaper Wednesday. On Tuesday, the Tallahassee Democratreported that the case had been dropped when the accuser had "changed her mind" about pursuing the charges.

An attorney for Winston denied the reported allegations against his client after they emerged last week.

The alleged victim's family, according to the statement, was shocked to hear that Winston's attorney was made aware of the case as early as February. The statement also alleges that detectives "specifically refused to collect Winston's DNA or interview Winston's roommate who witnessed the attack."

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Winston has not been questioned by the police. His status with the team reportedly has not changed since the story broke last week.

More from the family's statement to the Times (which can be viewed in full here):

...In early January, when the victim identified the perpetrator as Jameis Winston, the family grew concerned that she would be targeted on campus.

We requested assistance from an attorney friend to interact with law enforcement on the victim's behalf. When the attorney contacted Detective (Scott) Angulo immediately after Winston was identified, Detective Angulo told the attorney that Tallahassee was a big football town and the victim needs to think long and hard before proceeding against him because she will be raked over the coals and her life will be made miserable...

It was never the intent of the victim or the family for this to become public. The victim was trying to move on with her life which has now been turned upside down once again. We have not been the source of any information prior to this release; there was no benefit in that.

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