CAMBRIDGE – A man on the Philadelphia Eagles football team in Sarahsville, Ohio has been indicted on charges of rape and kidnapping in County Guernsey, state and local authorities announced Wednesday.
Reserve lineman Josh Sills, 25, was charged by a Guernsey County grand jury with engaging in non-consensual sexual activity and holding a woman against her will in December 2019, according to a joint statement by Attorney General Dave Yost and Guernsey County Sheriff Jeffrey D. Paden said.
He was charged with one count of rape and one count of kidnapping, both felonies in the first degree.
The crime was immediately reported and the Guernsey County Sheriff’s Office conducted a detailed investigation, the statement said. The case was presented to the grand jury and is being prosecuted by the Special Prosecutions Section of the Attorney General’s Office.
An attorney general spokesman did not comment on the timing of the grand jury or the investigation.
The Eagles will play in Super Bowl LVII on February 12 and are light favorites against the Kansas City Chiefs. Sills received a summons to appear in Guernsey County Common Court at 1.00pm on 16 February.
“The organization is aware of the legal matter involving Josh Sills. We have been in contact with the league office and are gathering more information. We have no further comment at this time,” the Eagles said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon.
Sills, number 61, is 6-foot-6 and weighs 325 pounds, according to the Eagles website. Sills went to Meadowbrook High School in Guernsey County and played soccer at West Virginia University before transferring to Oklahoma State University where he was team captain.
The Eagles signed him as a free agent in 2022. Sills played one game this season and was on the inactive list.
