Josh Sills, a backup offensive lineman for the Philadelphia Eagles, has been indicted for alleged rape and kidnapping, less than two weeks before his team will compete in the 2023 Super Bowl.
Sills, 25, is accused of sexually assaulting a woman and holding her against her will in Ohio in December 2019, the Ohio Attorney General's Office said in a statement, adding that the crime was immediately reported and police then conducted an investigation. On Jan. 31, the athlete was indicted on one count of rape and one count of kidnapping, both first-degree felonies, by the Guernsey County Common Pleas Court.
According to a police report obtained by ESPN, an officer was dispatched to a hospital ER in Cambridge, Ohio, on Dec. 5, 2019, to take a report of a sexual assault.
The alleged victim, a woman, told police that Sills, a friend from high school, dropped her and her cousin off at her cousin's place, where she was staying, and that after her cousin got out of the vehicle, the NFL player allegedly pulled her back into the truck and later sexually assaulted her inside the vehicle. A nurse told the dispatched officer that the victim had bruising in her mouth.
E! News was not able to locate a lawyer to speak on Sills' behalf.
The athlete, an Ohio native who was drafted by the Eagles last April and played in one NFL game this season, has been summoned to appear in court Feb. 16, four days after the Super Bowl, which will see his team face off against the Kansas City Chiefs in Phoenix.
On Feb. 1, the Eagles announced that Sills was no longer eligible to be on an active team roster. "The NFL placed G Josh Sills on the Commissioner Exempt List," the Eagles said in a statement on Twitter Feb. 1. "The organization is aware of the legal matter involving Sills. We have been in communication with the league office and are in the process of gathering more information."