Oluwasanmi Odelusi, a former Championship striker, has been convicted and may face imprisonment for raping a woman who was asleep at an Airbnb. The incident occurred after they met during a night out.
Odelusi, 31, also known as Sanmi, retired from professional football in 2020 due to an injury. During his career, he played for teams like Bolton Wanderers, MK Dons, and Coventry City.
After retiring, Odelusi, who has a significant following on Instagram, became involved in helping young people enter sports and is described as a devout Christian and church usher.
Prosecutor Charles Evans stated that the victim, a 27-year-old woman whose name is withheld for legal reasons, was visiting London from the USA with two friends. They were in London to celebrate Thanksgiving in November 2021 when the rape took place at their Airbnb in Shoreditch, East London.
On the evening of Friday, November 26, they decided to go clubbing. At Reign nightclub in Piccadilly, one of the victim’s friends kissed Ryan Sellers, a friend of Odelusi who is also a footballer. Later, Odelusi and Sellers were invited back to the Airbnb with the women, arriving in the early hours of the morning.
The victim admitted that her memory of the taxi ride home was unclear due to alcohol consumption, but she clearly remembered the rape that followed.
Initially, Mr. Sellers went into another woman’s room, and Odelusi entered the victim’s room. After she declined his advances, he was invited into another friend’s bed and had consensual sex with her, which stopped when she asked him to.
Subsequently, Odelusi returned to the victim’s room and raped her around 6 am while she was asleep. The victim awoke during the act but was unable to speak. Odelusi then went back to the friend’s room, and the victim went back to sleep.
HORRIFIC ASSAULT
Odelusi and Mr. Sellers left the Airbnb later that morning. The victim woke up at 11 am, feeling confused. She confided in a friend later that day in Stratford, who encouraged her to report the assault to the police. Despite being hesitant initially due to fear of not being able to identify her attacker, she eventually reported the incident.
Police were contacted by the victim’s friends around 12:50 am on November 28. Due to the victim’s distress, her friends reported the crime. Although the women were scheduled to leave the country that day, one friend gave a video interview to the police. The victim was later interviewed by Met Police officers in Beverly Hills.
During the trial, the victim’s video interview was presented as evidence, and she did not have to testify in person. Odelusi was identified through CCTV footage from the nightclub and a photograph taken by one of the women that night.
DNA EVIDENCE
Odelusi voluntarily attended a police interview on November 29 but remained silent. Later, his DNA matched semen traces found.
The prosecution argued that consent cannot be given by a sleeping person, emphasizing that while the victim’s intoxication was not the primary point, it contributed to the circumstances that enabled the rape.
Odelusi denied the charges, claiming the victim was awake and consented. His defense argued that the victim had shown interest in him in the taxi, showing him her Instagram, and that he was surprised by the police investigation. He admitted to having sex with both women but insisted all encounters were consensual and that his actions after were not those of someone guilty of rape.
The jury found Odelusi guilty by a majority verdict. He has been released on bail and awaits sentencing in May.
