Former Ohio State Football Players Found Not Guilty in Rape and Kidnapping Case
Jahsen Wint #23 of the Ohio State Buckeyes celebrates during the BIG Ten Football Championship Game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Lucas Oil Stadium on December 07, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
By: Omar Cook
In 2020, two Ohio State football players, were accused of raping a fellow female student. Amir I. Riep and Jahsen L. Wint were recently found not guilty on all charges including two counts each of rape and one count of kidnapping.
Dan Sabol and Sam Shamansky represented Riep and Wint as their defense attorneys respectively and presented the argument that sex between all parties was consensual and that the woman’s father pushed his daughter to pursue criminal charges only after she regretted her actions.
Jansen Wint and Amir Riep
According to court records, the woman stated she began having consensual sex with Riep but changed her mind and decided to stop. She told police that Wint walked into the room and Riep asked her if Wint could join in. She then stated that Riep grabbed her by the neck, and began forcing her to have sex. She also said that Riep pinned her down while Wint forced her to have oral sex.
According to court documents, after the act was over, they were accused of forcing the the woman to state her name on camera and state that the sex between them was consensual.
Riep and Wint were arrested on February 11, 2020 and taken to the Franklin County Correction Center. Soon after, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day dismissed both players from the team.
This has been an unfortunate situation for Riep and Wint as they have been fighting this case for three years, with their entire lives, football career, and education put on hold. After the verdict was read, Riep and Wint broke down in tears.
Riep and Wint hug and cry after the verdict. https://t.co/WnZahZIIdc pic.twitter.com/pZKwJ5k7wk
— Jordan Laird (@LairdWrites) February 9, 2023
"I'm going to get my life back on track, get my degree and keep on being a law-abiding citizen," Wint said to The Columbus Dispatch.
Wint finished the program in human development at Ohio State in 2020 but the university refused to dish out his degree until the outcome of the trial.
"I'm grateful," Riep said of the verdict. "And you grow through what you go through."
Riep still has two semesters remaining at Ohio State to graduate in sports management. Both young men will now have the opportunity to live life freely and pursue their dreams after living out a nightmare situation.
"The jury did a fantastic job discerning the truth and contrasting what Amir said and what his accuser said," Dan Sabol said. "It took a long time, but the system worked."
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