This story contains descriptions of alleged sexual misconduct. Moving to End Sexual Assault offers resources to those in need within Boulder County.
The Office of Victim Assistance offers campus-specific resources.

Brennan Pieper, a former member of the Ralphie handler team and Presidential Leadership Class program, was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault and one count of unlawful sexual contact on Tuesday.

Pieper was convicted after a nearly two yearlong judicial process for the sexual assault of a fellow CU Boulder student in Sept. 2022.

The Boulder County District Attorney’s office released a statement following the guilty verdict, stating, “We appreciate the jury’s service. These guilty verdicts are the right outcome and a direct result of the victim’s strength, the outstanding investigation by the CU Police Department, and the hard work of our team.”

Pieper and the victim, both freshmen at CU Boulder at the time of the sexual assault, were studying together with friends in a dorm room on Main Campus, before they decided to take a break from studying and proceeded to throw a football around on the third floor of the dorm building.

Then, Pieper consensually kissed the victim before asserting that they should leave the dorm building and go out to the nearby Kittredge Field. Another consensual kiss occurred when the two went to the middle of Kittredge Field.

Following this, Pieper grasped the victim by the wrist and forcefully pulled her to a nearby shed that was concealed in darkness. From there, Pieper forcibly “held the victim down and forced oral penetration with his penis.”

Additionally, Pieper “further forced digital penetration on the victim during this assault,” as per the Boulder County District Attorney’s Tuesday press release.

Investigative reporting conducted by The Bold and the CU Independent, published on April 10, 2024, found that Pieper remained on the prestigious Ralphie handler team – some 17 months after CU Boulder’s internal investigation had begun.

Despite the ongoing investigation, Pieper continued to participate in the Ralphie handler program throughout the fall 2023 and beginning of spring 2024 semesters, guiding Ralphie at a Nov. 2023 football game and appearing at the Stampede, CU’s pre-game event. The Bold and CU Independent’s previous reporting also revealed that Pieper participated in team workouts and practices, additional game days, team appearances and trainings at “his discretion,” Steve Hurlbert, CU Boulder’s chief spokesperson said.

Reporting by Westword revealed that Pieper remained a Ralphie handler until April 19, 2024, when university spokesperson Nicole Mueksch confirmed he was no longer on the team – nine days after The Bold’s reporting revealed he still remained on the team.

An inflection point for CU Athletics

CU Boulder faces an inflection point with cases of sexual assault becoming increasingly more common among the student athlete population. The signing and eventual dismissal of football player Anthony “Deuce” Roberson II in the spring of 2023 stands as a prime example of this worrying trend. Roberson allegedly raped a fellow student during his time at Palmer Ridge High School in Monument, Colorado, in Dec. 2022. Additionally, 14 women alleged that Roberson sexually assaulted, raped or harassed them during his high school years, in reporting published by The Bold and CU Independent in March 2023.

Head coach of the CU Buffs football team, Deion Sanders, posted a message of seeming support to Roberson via X, May 9, 2024, stating “Love ya my man and whomever you commit to will be getting a good young man that wants to prove to everybody he’s more than deserving! God bless u my man.”

Sanders’ post remains on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to this day, despite CU Boulder confirming Roberson’s dismissal from the university and football program in April 2023.

The proliferation of sexual violence and assault among the athletics department at CU Boulder remains at the forefront of campus consciousness with the conviction of Brennan Pieper — as it has since March 2023 — when a Change.org petition calling for the dismissal of Roberson garnered more than 5,600 signatures.

Pieper is set to be sentenced at 3:00 pm on October 4. He faces a four-year minimum prison sentence, potentially extending to a maximum sentence of 36 years to life for the single count of unlawful sexual contact and two counts of sexual assault.

“We are grateful to the jury for coming to this verdict and holding the defendant accountable for his actions on September 26, 2022. The victim showed tremendous courage throughout this entire process – from reporting to police, to testifying at trial almost two years later. However, this outcome would not have happened without the tremendous work done by the CU Police Department and the lead Detective, Marc Mustoe. It is because of their diligent investigation and the victim’s testimony that we were able to achieve justice in this case,” Boulder County Deputy District Attorneys Taylor Suta and Nevene Hullender stated in the Tuesday press release.

This is a developing story. The Bold will continue to post updates as they are made public.