Utah prosecutors refile rape charge against former BYU football star

BYU wide receiver Parker Kingston (11) runs the ball during an NCAA football game against the UCF Knights held at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret NewsUtah prosecutors refiled a rape charge Thursday against a former BYU football star.Parker Kingston, 22, faces one count first-degree felony rape in Washington County — about 300 miles south of Salt Lake City — where the alleged assault occurred in February 2025. He is scheduled to appear in 5th District Court in St. George on Dec. 17.Kingston was arrested and charged with rape in February 2026. He was initially held in jail before being released on bail. Fifth District Judge Jay Winward denied prosecutors’ request to delay the trial after they told him the alleged victim was not ready to testify and dismissed the case this past June.A 20-year-old woman identified in court documents as A.M. reported that Kingston sexually assaulted her on Feb. 23, 2025, in her St. George apartment. Three days later, the woman contacted a neighbor, who is also a law enforcement officer, to ask what she should do if she was sexually assaulted. She was told to go the hospital for an exam, according to court documents. She notified police of the assault on Feb. 27 at St. George Regional Hospital. Kingston and the woman initially connected on Instagram but Kingston suggested they move the conversation to SnapChat, according to the court filing.“During those communications, he said he had plans to come to St. George. A.M. told the defendant that if the only reason he was coming was to have sex with her that he should not come,” per court documents.The new filing includes a graphic text exchange between Kingston and a person identified K.W. that includes a vulgar term for sexual intercourse. During an interview with police in November 2025, investigators asked Kingston what the term meant and he told them “to have sex.”“The defendant told officers that he felt bad for what happened,” according to court documents.The woman, according to the filing, told Kingston “no” four times before he assaulted her. Kingston told police in that interview that “all sexual activity with A.M. was consensual.”Kingston would have been a senior at BYU this season and was expected to be the Cougars’ primary receiver after a breakout season in 2025 in which he caught 67 passes for 928 yards and five touchdowns.Shortly after his arrest in February, a BYU spokesperson said Kingston was no longer a student at the school and had been removed from the football team.