PHILADELPHIA — Eagles offensive lineman Josh Sills was indicted by a Guernsey County Common Pleas Court grand jury on one count of rape and one count of kidnapping, both first-degree felonies, according to a release posted on the Ohio attorney general’s website.
Per the release, Sills engaged in sexual activity that was not consensual and held a victim against her will in December 2019.
The alleged crime was immediately reported, according to the release, and the Guernsey County Sheriff’s Office conducted a detailed investigation. The case was presented to the grand jury and is being prosecuted by the special prosecutions section of the attorney general’s office.
A summons was issued for Sills, 25, to appear in Guernsey County Common Pleas Court at 1 pm ET on Feb. 16.
The NFL said on Wednesday that Sills has been placed on the commissioner’s exempt list and is not permitted to participate in practices or games or travel with the Eagles while on the list. The league also said that “the matter will be reviewed under the NFL’s personal conduct policy.”
The Eagles said in a statement they are “aware of the legal matter involving Josh Sills. 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.”
The Eagles are playing against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII on Feb. 12 in Glendale, Arizona.
According to the police report obtained by ESPN, an officer was dispatched to the Southeastern Ohio Regional Medical Center emergency room in Cambridge, Ohio, on Dec. 5, 2019, to take a report of a sexual assault. According to the woman’s account, a man dropped her and her cousin off at her cousin’s place, where she was staying. After her cousin got out of the vehicle, “the male grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back into the truck.” The male grabbed her by her ponytail and tried to kiss her, the report said, and she repeatedly told him to stop, but he continued. Once her friend was inside the home, the account continues, the man then tried to take off her pants and kept “touching me down there.” She also alleged that the man forced her to have oral sex with him.
She identified the man as Sills, whom she said she had gone to high school with and had known for seven or eight years. The officer took photos of the woman’s face and neck, as she stated she had been grabbed by the neck several times, the report said. The deputy was also informed that hospital staff were doing a CT scan to check for strangulation injuries. A nurse informed the deputy that she discovered bruising in the back of the woman’s throat as well as on her inner lip. The nurse also noted that there was bruising to her right ear and that the woman also showed the officer bruising on the back of her left knee.
Sills, a native of Sarahsville, Ohio, was signed by the Eagles as an undrafted free agent in April. He attended West Virginia from 2016 to 2019, then transferred to Oklahoma State in 2020.
Sills appeared in one game for the Eagles this season, in October against the Arizona Cardinals.