Former NBA star Ben McLemore got hit with more than eight years behind bars after a jury nailed him for rape and sexual abuse. The 32-year-old basketball player attacked a 21-year-old woman at a wild house party back in 2021. The party happened at the fancy Lake Oswego home of his Portland Trail Blazers teammate Robert Covington. A Clackamas County judge slammed McLemore with the 100-month prison sentence just days after the guilty verdict came down. The once-promising athlete will spend his time locked up in an Oregon state prison.
Prosecutors told the court that the young woman had drunk way too much alcohol and could not agree to anything that night. McLemore admitted he had been drinking but tried to convince everyone that the woman wanted what happened. The jury did not buy his story and sided with the victim instead. They found him guilty of rape, unlawful sexual penetration, and one count of sexual abuse. However, they did clear him on another separate sexual abuse charge that prosecutors had brought against him.
Prosecutors told the court that the young woman had drunk way too much alcohol and could not agree to anything that night. McLemore admitted he had been drinking but tried to convince everyone that the woman wanted what happened. The jury did not buy his story and sided with the victim instead. They found him guilty of rape, unlawful sexual penetration, and one count of sexual abuse. However, they did clear him on another separate sexual abuse charge that prosecutors had brought against him.
