A Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman was indicted on rape and kidnapping charges stemming from a 2019 incident in Ohio, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
The player, Josh Sills, 25, of Sarahsville, Ohio, was indicted by a grand jury on one count of rape and one count of kidnapping on Tuesday, the Ohio attorney general, Dave Yost, and Sheriff Jeffrey D. Paden of Guernsey County announced in a news release on Wednesday.
The indictment stems from an incident in December 2019, prosecutors said, when Mr. Sills allegedly “engaged in sexual activity that was not consensual and held a victim against her will” in Guernsey County, according to the release. The county, which has a population of about 38,000 residents, is about 90 miles east of Columbus, Ohio.
The announcement comes less than two weeks before the team competes in the Super Bowl.
“The crime was immediately reported, and the Guernsey County Sheriff’s Office conducted a detailed investigation,” the authorities said.
The case was presented to the Guernsey County Common Pleas Court grand jury and is being prosecuted by the Special Prosecutions Section of the Attorney General’s Office. The grand jury filed the indictment on Tuesday. Both charges are felonies, according to court records.
Mr. Sills was issued a summons to appear in court on Feb. 16, four days after the Eagles are scheduled to play the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Ariz.
Information on the victim’s age and how she and Mr. Sills may have known each other was not immediately available on Wednesday. It was not clear who Mr. Sills’s lawyer was.
It was uncertain whether Mr. Sills, who was not on the active roster for the Eagles’ first two playoff games, would be able to play in the Super Bowl. “The organization is aware of the legal matter involving Josh Sills,” the Eagles said in a statement. “We have been in communication with the league office and are in the process of gathering more information. We have no further comment at this time.”
Mr. Sills joined the team as a rookie this season as an offensive lineman and played in one regular-season game, against the Arizona Cardinals in October, appearing in four plays on special teams.
From 2016 to 2019, he played football at West Virginia University and then transferred to Oklahoma State, where he played from 2020-21.
