Judge orders former BYU football player Parker Kingston to stand trial on rape charge

BYU wide receiver Parker Kingston (11) looks back as he scores a touchdown during the second half of the game against the UCF Knights at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Nov. 29, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News

ST. GEORGE — A judge ordered Parker Kingston, a former BYU wide receiver, to stand trial for rape, a first-degree felony, following a preliminary hearing Thursday.

Fifth District Judge Jay Winward bound him over for trial, but said there was “conflicting credible” evidence presented by the defense.

Prosecutors presented text messages between Kingston and a friend that were sent before the incident and shortly afterward. Among those messages was one in which Kingston indicated he had just had sexual intercourse with the alleged victim, St. George police detective Cody Layton testified.

He said much of the communication between Kingston, 22, and the woman was done through the Snapchat app, and those messages were not able to be recovered. The only messages recovered were from Kingston’s phone.

The alleged victim, 20, called police on Feb. 27, four days after Kingston had gone to her house, to report that she had been raped. She did not testify during Thursday’s hearing but prosecutors played a video of her interview with police. She told investigators that she had “consented” to sex acts and the two engaged in “everything but sex.” But after she said Kingston raped her, she felt like it was “mission accomplished” for him.

The woman told investigators the two met over social media. Leading up to that evening, she said she told Kingston they were “not going to have sex.” She described watching a movie at her apartment and kissing, but said they did “nothing crazy.” She said Kingston fell asleep, but when he woke up there was a “weird switch” followed by “heavy making out.” She said that he laid on top of her and she tried to get him off of her in many different ways.

“I said no three or four times. I felt like the room stood still,” she told police in the video.

Layton testified about the woman’s initial phone call to police. He also described another phone call made on March 21, when the woman asked police not to move forward with the case against Kingston.