http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=252963
NRL player charged with sexual assault
Tuesday Mar 6 15:08 AEDT
National Rugby League player Anthony Laffranchi has been charged with sexually assaulting a woman at a Sydney unit last year.
Laffranchi, who played for Wests Tigers last year before switching to the Gold Coast Titans, was charged on Tuesday at Burwood Police Station, in Sydney's inner-west.
The charge followed an extensive inquiry by Strike Force Saro, comprising detectives from the Child Protection Unit and Sex Crimes Squad.
The NSW Police Force said the investigation began after a 26-year-old woman reported on Monday, September 4, 2006, that she may have been sexually assaulted earlier that day at a unit in William Street, Five Dock.
It is alleged she had gone to the home unit with a number of people she met at a Kings Cross nightclub the previous evening, police said.
Laffranchi, who was charged shortly before 9am (AEDT), was granted conditional bail to appear before Burwood Local Court on March 27.
Last year, Wests Tigers said it was cooperating with police investigation into allegations that a young woman was raped on September 4, 2006, at a Five Dock unit linked to Wests Tigers players.
The alleged incident coincided with the team's end-of-season "Mad Monday" celebrations.
The Gold Coast Titans is shortly expected to release a statement on the matter