Former Ohio State football players Amir Riep and Jahsen Wint have been acquitted of rape and kidnapped charges.
The two former Ohio State defensive backs were found not guilty of all charges by a Franklin County jury on Thursday, nearly three years after they were arrested following an alleged rape in February 2020.
Riep and Wint hug and cry after the verdict. https://t.co/WnZahZIIdc pic.twitter.com/pZKwJ5k7wk
— Jordan Laird (@LairdWrites) February 9, 2023
Riep and Wint were both dismissed from the Ohio State football program on Feb. 12, 2020, one day after they were both arrested by Columbus Police and charged with two counts of rape and one count of kidnapping.
The two former Buckeyes were accused of raping a then-19-year-old woman at their apartment on Feb. 4, 2020. Riep and Wint both pleaded not guilty and maintained their innocence during the trial. Evidence admitted during the trial included a video recorded by Riep in which he asked the woman if their sex was consensual, which he said he recorded because Ohio State players were instructed by team staff to get consent on the record. The woman testified Tuesday that she consented to the recording because she “was worried I couldn’t go home if I didn’t,” according to the Columbus Dispatch.
The jury ruled in favor of Riep and Wint on Thursday following a three-day trial in which Riep, Wint and their accuser all testified.
According to the Dispatch, Wint completed his coursework in human development and family science in 2020 but Ohio State withheld his degree pending the outcome of the trial. Riep told the Dispatch he is two semesters away from graduation.
Afterward, Riep and Wint told The Dispatch they are relieved and grateful to the jury for giving them their lives back.
"I'm going to get my life back on track, get my degree and keep on being a law-abiding citizen," Wint said.
Wint completed his degree in human development at Ohio State University in 2020 but the university withheld his degree pending the outcome of this trial. Riep is majoring in sports management and has two semesters left at Ohio State before he graduates.
"I'm grateful and you grow through what you go through," Riep said.
