Philadelphia Eagles rookie offensive lineman Josh Sills has been indicted in his native Ohio on rape and kidnapping charges.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and Guernsey County Sheriff Jeffrey D. Paden announced the alleged criminal conduct on Wednesday.
The Guernsey County indictment says Sills, 25, “did engage in sexual conduct” with a victim and “purposely compelled her to submit by force or threat of force” on Dec. 5, 2019.
Further, prosecutors allege that he restrained the liberty of his victim, preventing her from leaving.
A grand jury indicted Sills on one count of felony rape and one count of felony kidnapping this week.
The news comes less than two weeks before the Eagles face off against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
The New York Post reported that Sills appeared in only one regular-season game, playing four snaps on special teams against the Arizona Cardinals on Oct. 9.
The Eagles won the game 20-17.
Eagles’ Josh Sills indicted on rape, kidnapping charges prior to Super Bowl https://t.co/bqPeiXzl7c pic.twitter.com/iZkCagQyT7
— New York Post (@nypost) February 1, 2023
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Sills played for both West Virginia University and Oklahoma State University.
He signed on with the Eagles before the 2022 season as an undrafted free agent.
Sills is due to appear in court on Feb. 16, four days after the Super Bowl, according to a news release from the Ohio attorney general’s office.
The case will be prosecuted by the office’s Special Prosecutions Section.
Neither the Eagles nor Sills had publicly addressed the allegations as of early Wednesday, according to the Post.
NBC Sports’ Mike Florio wrote that the backup guard’s “relative importance to the team and the serious nature of the charges could (and perhaps should) result in Sills summarily being released by the Eagles.”
The Eagles handily defeated the San Francisco 49ers 31-7 in the NFC championship game Sunday.
The team last won the Super Bowl in 2018, besting Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
