Cedric Jones is a high school football star and a victim of rape by deception.
Background[]
After graduating from high school, Jones initially wanted to attend a college called Georgia Tech, but he decided to visit Hudson University during recruitment week just so he could see New York City. When he left the airport, he was greeted by Coach Bill Becker, who introduced him to two cheerleaders named Zoe and Tanya, who served as his hostesses. When they got to his hotel, Jones had a threesome with Zoe and Tanya. He then told them that he only came to see New York and that he actually wanted to attend Georgia Tech, but they still tried to persuade him. Later, during a recruitment dinner, Becker again tried to convince Jones to sign on with Hudson, but Jones informed him that the school was far from home and that his family would worry about him.
Becker then introduced Jones to other members of the football team and asked them to give him a tour of the school. When they got to the weight room, Jones became excited and wanted to exercise there, but Zoe and Tanya came out and the team gave Jones the impression that he was going to have sex with them. Zoe put a blindfold on Jones, upon which he received oral sex, but when they took the blindfold off, Jones learned that he actually got it from a gay male cheerleader, Ty Lee, much to his humiliation and trauma. Jones then left the party and asked a Hudson cab driver to take him to a sports bar. The cab driver took Jones to a gay bar, but because he grew up in a small town, Jones was unable to tell and went inside to drink and watch hockey.
Gridiron Soldier[]
In the bar, Freddy tries to make out with Jones, and as a result, he goes into a blind rage, beats the man, and flees. The responding officers tase Jones and arrest him for assault. When Jones misses his flight, his uncle Larry Jones goes to New York and asks Detectives Rollins to find him. When Rollins finds Jones in prison, he asks her to not tell his family that he was arrested as he is brought to the precinct. When Sergeant Benson and Detective Amaro question Jones, they tell him that that the bar he was in was a gay bar, much to his surprise.
When Amaro tells him that he is facing charges for assault and maybe a hate crime charge as well, Jones maintains that he does not hate anyone. When they ask what happened at Hudson, Jones asks for an attorney. When the detectives discover what happened to him at Hudson, Amaro and Detective Tutuola ask Jones about the assault, but he refuses to speak about it. When Amaro puts his arm on his shoulder, Jones pushes him away, gets angry, and then breaks down crying. At arraignment, Jones' attorney, Lorenzo Desappio, asks that the charge be dismissed due to his state of mind at the time of the assault. Despite dropping the hate crime charge, A.D.A. Rose Callier refuses to dismiss the assault charge and bail is set at $20,000, which Jones tells his attorney he cannot pay because his family was counting on him to get drafted.
Larry visits him in prison and they pray together, leaving Jones feeling optimistic. However, when Tanya visits him, she tells Jones that they have a video of his assault, and that if he presses charges against them, they will put the video on the Internet. Afterwards, Jones tries to hang himself; he survives but his neck was left broken. When Rollins tries to question Jones about Tanya, he initially refuses to talk about it and tells her about the video. After Rollins tells him that they will make sure the video does not get out, Jones tearfully tells her that the doctor said that he could no longer play football because his neck was broken and that he wished he had died.
The next day, Jones apologizes to the man he assaulted. When he hears from Callier about what happened to Jones, the man dropped the charges because he believed Jones had suffered enough. Eventually, Becker pleads guilty to multiple counts of arranging sexual assault and the members of the football team and the cheerleaders who sexually assaulted Jones, except for Eddie Thorpe who was also raped, are also convicted of raping him and several other players. Jones and his uncle then head back to Georgia. (SVU: "Gridiron Soldier")