COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) A grand jury on Friday indicted two former Ohio State football players on charges of rape and kidnapping after authorities said they held a woman against her will and raped her earlier this month.
Defensive backs Amir Riep and Jahsen Wint were kicked off the team last week after their Feb. 12 arrest. The indictment was announced by Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien, who said each man faces 33 years in prison and registration as a sex offender if convicted.
Both previously pleaded not guilty to preliminary charges. Their next hearing is March 6. Attorneys for both say their clients are innocent.
Riep spoke with officers without a lawyer and passed a polygraph examination, his lawyer, Dan Sabol, said in a statement Friday.
”In a contest of credibility, Amir has done everything possible to prove his innocence,” Sabol said, adding: ”If there is a silver lining to this indictment, it is that he will have the opportunity to prove his innocence in a court of law.”
Sam Shamansky, representing Wint, noted last week that it took police seven days to arrest his client.
”This case is so full of reasonable doubt it’s beyond belief. The reality is, my kid’s innocent,” Shamansky said on Feb. 13. He promised another statement Friday.
The woman told police that on Feb. 4 she started having consensual sex with Riep before Wint came into the room and both forced her into sex.
After several minutes, they stopped and Riep told the woman that she needed to say what happened was ”consensual on a video recording while laughing at her,” according to police. Riep then told the woman she needed to shower before he drove her back to her home.
Officials said in court that police have the video recording.
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