UPDATE: August 4, 2023 4:30 p.m.
CAMBRIDGE, Ohio (WTRF) — Today the jury deliberated exactly 3 hours before returning the not guilty verdicts.
Sills showed no emotion as the verdicts were read, while family members in the courtroom were clearly joyful.
Afterward, Sills and his attorneys expressed their gratitude.
“He gets his life back. I think that he’ll be on an airplane tomorrow or perhaps tonight to Philadelphia and be back with the Philadelphia Eagles… and be able to move on with his life with his family. And you know, be able to participate in football and build a career.”
A. Steven Dever | Defense Attorney
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost today issued a statement on the not guilty verdict, saying “I still believe the victim. But in America, criminal convictions require proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The jury did not see it, and I thank them for doing their duty under the law.”
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(WTRF) Former Ohio Valley athlete, West Virginia Mountaineer, and current NFL Philadelphia Eagle Josh Sills was found not guilty of rape and kidnapping.
After the verdict, Sills thanked the jury, thanked his family, and said “I’ve done nothing wrong.”
This is a breaking news story, stick with 7News for updates.
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According to the report, the family member got out of the vehicle and the Sills grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back into the truck.
The victim allegedly told Sills to stop but Sills continued, according to the deputies’ report.
The victim told deputies in the report that a vehicle pulled up behind the truck they were in and that’s when Sills grabbed her by the neck and threw her down on the seat and got on top of her so no one could see them inside the truck.
The person in the truck behind the victim walked inside the house, according to the document.
Once the person was inside the house, the victim said Sills tried to take off her pants and eventually got her pants unbuttoned and kept ‘touching her down there,’ the report says.
The victim says she was able to get loose from Sills but Sills grabbed her by the neck and
pulled her on top of him when he sat up, according to the document.
The victim stated to deputies in the report that Sills told her “she was doing this and was
not leaving until she did this” The victim said that’s when Sills took off his pants and shoved her face down on him.
The victim advised that her cousin did not think anything of it and shut the door and walked into the house, then Sills grabbed the victim by her ponytail and tried to kiss her, according to the incident report.
The report says for approximately 20 minutes Sills allegedly grabbed her by the hair and forced her head up and down until, “he did his thing and that she ‘spit it back on him and asked him to please let her go”
She advised in the report that Sills then tried to kiss her again and Sills grabbed her by the neck again and stated, “Well you will talk to me again”. “Okay that’s fine” the victim said then got out of the truck and ran into the house, according to the document.
The victim said she has known Sills for seven or eight years and went to high school with him and the incident happened on December 5, 2019.
Deputies say that the victim had bruising in the back of her throat, in her inner lip, the back of her left knee and her right ear.
Sills played high school football at Meadowbrook high school and went to play college at West Virginia University and Oklahoma State.
