Judge calls out USF coach Charlie Strong after player's recent arrest

UPDATE | 5/3/2017---

LaDarrius Jackson made his first appearance in court Wednesday afternoon. The judge called his actions reprehensible and called out USF head football coach Charlie Strong, questioning his ability to control his players.

"Coach Strong, if you are listening, in the last couple of months there have been two arrests of your players in very violent felonies, she said. "This court, and I'm sure I'm not alone, questions whether you have control over your players. It's fairly clear you don't have control over them off the field, and I guess only time will tell whether you have control over them on the field. I would implore you to think long and hard about whether being head coach at USF is a good fit for you, before any other members of this community have to suffer at the hands of one of your players."

Coach Strong responded with the following statement:

“In the short time I have been here our program has been built on character, discipline and family. We have wonderful young men in the USF football program who choose to do the right thing every day. We are dedicated to recruiting young men of high character, and to consistently developing them with structure and frequent education regarding appropriate conduct and behavior, on and off the playing field. While I am shocked and saddened at the recent arrest of a member of our team, I am disappointed that the actions of two players over the last two months have harmed the reputation of our program, of our wonderful university and of my character.  We have high expectations of our coaches, staff and student-athletes and we hold accountable those who act contrary to our values.” 

ORIGINAL STORY | A University of South Florida football player was arrested on Monday night just before 11:00 p.m. 

LaDarrius Jackson was arrested by USF Police on campus. The 22-year-old Defensive End was charged for False Imprisonment and Sexual Battery.

USF campus police say the incident occurred at a residential building on campus 2:30 p.m. on Monday.

They say the victim and Jackson are acquaintances.

The victim immediately reported what happened to university housing staff who then contacted police.

According to the arrest report, the victim told police Jackson forced her into a room and tried forcing her to perform a sexual act.

She told police that during the attack she told Jackson "no" several times in different ways.

Later in the day, Jackson was at Tampa International Airport getting ready to board his scheduled flight to go home since it was the end of Spring semester. Police say Jackson was not attempting to get out of town because of the incident. He answered a phone call from the USF police and he did not board his flight and stayed at the airport until detectives arrived to arrest him. When police arrived, he was taken into custody.  

According to the USF football roster, Jackson is a junior at USF. Last season he appeared in seven games for the bulls.

USF administration released a statement saying that Jackson has been removed from all activities at this time. 

"When the university learns of an arrest, the student involved may be subject to discipline in accordance with USF’s Student Code of Conduct. State and federal privacy laws protecting the confidentiality of student records, including disciplinary actions, prevent the university from commenting further about the matter involving Jackson."

The USF Student Code of Conduct can be found by clicking here.

USF head football coach Charlie Strong released the following statement on the incident:

“We are aware of the charges filed against LaDarrius Jackson. While we find the allegations troubling, we will continue to gather information and support the judicial process before providing further comment. The student-athlete has been removed from all team activities at this time.”

Jackson remains in jail.

We looked at some of the other major universities in the state to see how many football players have been arrested or criminally cited.

Football players arrested or criminally cited since the start of 2011:
UF: 25
FSU: 14
USF: 13

Those numbers only reflect arrests, not convictions.