Eagles offensive lineman Josh Sills acquitted on rape, kidnapping charges in Ohio
An Ohio jury has found Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Josh Sills not guilty of rape and kidnapping charges stemming from a December 2019 incident in which a woman accused him of forcing her to engage in sexual activity.
Sills, 25, was removed from the NFL commissioner's exempt list – which barred him from practicing, traveling or playing with the Eagles – on Friday after he was acquitted of two felony counts of rape and kidnapping following a four-day trial. He was first put on the exempt list in February before the Eagles faced the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 57 after he was indicted by a Guernsey County grand jury in Ohio in late January.
"I’ve done nothing wrong, and am glad that was proven today," Sills said after the verdict, according to Pro Football Talk.
On Friday, the Eagles told the Delaware News Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, that Sills will be placed on the team's 90-man training camp roster.
"We are aware that the legal matter involving Josh Sills has been adjudicated and he was found not guilty," the team said in a statement. "The organization has monitored the situation. The NFL has removed him from the Commissioner's Exempt List, and he will return to the active roster."
Sills, an undrafted lineman out of West Virginia University and Oklahoma State University, signed with the Eagles as an free agent in 2022. He appeared in one game during the regular season and did not participate in the Eagles' 38-35 Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs in Arizona.
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The indictment accused Sills of holding a woman against her will and forcing her to engage in non-consensual sexual activity.
During the trial, prosecution witnesses testified that Sills agreed to drive the accuser and her cousin, along with a male friend, home following a night of barhopping near his hometown. When Sills was alone with his accuser, he forced her to engage in non-consensual sexual activity. The woman, according to the trial testimony, went to the hospital the following day to receive treatment and have a sexual assault examination done.
Sills' defense team countered at trial that the sexual activity was consensual.
The jury deliberated for about two and a half hours before reaching a not guilty verdict.
Contributing: Bethany Bruner, Columbus Dispatch; Martin Frank, Delaware News Journal