A Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman was indicted on rape and kidnapping expenses stemming from a 2019 incident in Ohio, prosecutors stated on Wednesday.
The participant, Josh Sills, 25, of Sarahsville, Ohio, was indicted by a grand jury on one depend of rape and one depend of kidnapping on Tuesday, the Ohio lawyer normal, Dave Yost, and Sheriff Jeffrey D. Paden of Guernsey County introduced in a information launch on Wednesday.
The indictment stems from an incident in December 2019, prosecutors stated, when Mr. Sills allegedly “engaged in sexual exercise that was not consensual and held a sufferer towards her will” in Guernsey County, based on the discharge. The county, which has a inhabitants of about 38,000 residents, is about 90 miles east of Columbus, Ohio.
The announcement comes days earlier than the crew competes within the Tremendous Bowl.
“The crime was instantly reported, and the Guernsey County Sheriff’s Workplace performed an in depth investigation,” the authorities stated.
The case was offered to the Guernsey County Frequent Pleas Courtroom grand jury and is being prosecuted by the Particular Prosecutions Part of the Lawyer Common’s Workplace. The grand jury filed the indictment on Tuesday. Each expenses are felonies, based on court docket information.
Mr. Sills was issued a summons to look in court docket on Feb. 16, 4 days after the Eagles are scheduled to play the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs in Tremendous Bowl LVII in Glendale, Ariz.
Info on the sufferer’s age and the way she and Mr. Sills could have recognized one another was not instantly accessible on Wednesday. It was not clear who Mr. Sills’s lawyer was.
It was unsure whether or not Mr. Sills, who was not on the lively roster for the Eagles’ first two playoff video games, would be capable to play within the Tremendous Bowl. “The group is conscious of the authorized matter involving Josh Sills,” the Eagles stated in a press release. “We have now been in communication with the league workplace and are within the strategy of gathering extra info. We have now no additional remark presently.”
Mr. Sills joined the crew as a rookie this season as an offensive lineman and performed in a single regular-season recreation, towards the Arizona Cardinals in October, based on his biography on the crew’s web site.
From 2016 to 2019, he performed soccer at West Virginia College after which transferred to Oklahoma State, the place he performed from 2020-21.