Two former players on Ohio State just got a new lease on life. A Franklin County jury found two former Ohio State football players not guilty of rape and kidnapping charges, stemming from an incident back in 2020.
Former defensive players Amir Riep and Jahsen Wint were accused of rape by a then-19-year-old woman over three years ago, who stated the sexual encounter started as consensual.
The players were then cut from Ohio State’s football program. The players were both redshirt seniors on the Buckeye defense at the time. It came at the worst time since they were expected to be contenders for starting positions for the upcoming season.
A jury voted ‘not guilty’ on two counts of rape and one count of kidnapping. All were first-degree felonies.
“A key piece of evidence in the case was a cellphone video Riep took of the alleged victim which was played in court,” the Columbus Dispatch reported. “The short video is visually dark, but captured the sound of the woman saying she’s crying and then agreeing after Riep asks if the sex was consensual.”
Riep took to social media to celebrate.
“Thank you God, I love you,” he said on Twitter.
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Defense attorney Samuel Shamansky, who represented Wint, said his “relieved and eternally grateful to the jury for conducting a careful review of the evidence before reaching its verdicts of not guilty.”
There is no telling if both players will try and pursue a career in football after this.
