Former Ohio State Football Players Are Acquitted of Rape After They Filmed the Woman Saying She’d Consented
Amir I. Riep and fellow former Ohio State football player testified that the team was told to film women consenting to protect themselves.
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On Thursday, two former Ohio State football players were acquitted of rape and kidnapping charges after a two-day trial in which one of the men testified under oath that he’d been explicitly instructed by someone on university staff to film consent in order to avoid potential legal charges or unwanted ramifications.
In early 2020, an unnamed 19-year-old student at the university accused defensive players, Amir I. Riep and Jahsen L. Wint, of raping her at their off-campus apartment. While Riep and Wint’s defense attorneys argued the woman had consensual sex with both men but simply regretted it in the aftermath, court records and the woman’s testimony tell a starkly different story.
According to her testimony, on the night of February 4, 2020, she was having consensual sex with Riep, whom she’d exchanged messages with sometime before. She says at some point she wanted to stop, but Riep and Wint then forced her to continue with both of them. A criminal complaint for the incident alleges that Riep grabbed the woman by her neck and forced her to her hands and knees before raping her. While Riep held the woman in place, Wint allegedly forced oral sex on her. Per court records, the men stopped several minutes later and informed the woman that she was to confirm what happened was consensual via video recording. She testified that she agreed to do so just to leave sooner. Hours later, she approached the authorities about the alleged sexual assault.
That following week, Riep and Wint turned themselves over to Columbus police, and both players were dismissed from the football team. They were later charged with two counts of rape and one count of kidnapping, and the woman pursued a civil protection order.
The video, captured via Riep’s cellphone, was played in court. While the footage is reportedly “visually dark,” the woman can be heard saying that she’s crying and then agreeing to the question of whether the encounter was consensual.