Two Former Ohio State Players Found Not Guilty Of Rape Charges

Former Ohio State standouts Amir Riep and Jahsen Wint were acquitted of rape and kidnapping allegations on Thursday morning by a Franklin Country jury. The two former Ohio State defensive backs were found not guilty of all charges.

Reip and Wint were arrested on Feb. 11, 2020, and charged with two counts of rape and one count of kidnapping. The two were dismissed from OSU’s program a day later. The two former standout players were accused of raping a then-19-year-old woman at their apartment on Feb. 4, 2020.

Both players initially pleaded not guilty to the accusations and maintained their innocence through a three-day trial. Reip, who originally met the accuser via Snapchat in Dec. 2019, provided video evidence in which he asked the woman if their sex was consensual.

When asked why he recorded her testimony, Reip said it was because the team staff instructed Ohio State players to get consent on the record. According to The Columbus Dispatch, the woman testified Tuesday that she consented to the recording because she “was worried I couldn’t go home if I didn’t."

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 grateful," Riep said of the verdict via The Dispatch. "And you grow through what you go through."

Riep, a member of the 2017 recruiting class, is currently majoring in sports management and has two semesters left at Ohio State before graduation. Wint, a member of the 2016 recruiting class, finished his degree in human development in 2020, but the university withheld his degree pending the outcome of this trial.

"I'm going to get my life back on track, get my degree and keep on being a law-abiding citizen," Wint said in a statement to The Dispatch.

Both players were primarily used on special teams and as depth pieces. Reip totaled 32 tackles and interceptions in three seasons. Wint recorded 39 tackles and a sack after redshirting in 2016.