Josh Sills, an offensive lineman for the Philadelphia Eagles, was found not guilty on Friday of raping and kidnapping a young woman who was a former classmate in high school in his native Ohio. The player is expected to travel to Philadelphia for training camp with the Eagles, according to his attorney Michael Connick.
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After four days of testimony, the jury deliberated for nearly three hours before returning its judgment. Sills, 25, was not found guilty of forcibly restraining the lady in his pickup truck and compelling her to engage in oral sex in December 2019.
Sills, a 6-foot-6, 325-pound star who played for Oklahoma State University and West Virginia University, was signed by the Eagles as an undrafted free agent last year. He played against the Arizona Cardinals in one game that season.
The investigation into the football player took nearly three years to complete, and a grand jury did not issue an indictment until late January of this year, despite the fact that the woman—who was, like Sills, 21 at the time—filed a police report as soon as she claimed Sills assaulted her in 2019. The day after the Eagles won the NFC Championship and qualified for the Super Bowl, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office announced the criminal rape and kidnapping charges against Sills.
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A day after the charges were announced, the NFL put Sills, who had pled not guilty, on the “Commissioner Exempt List,” preventing him from participating in team activities like practices and games as well as traveling with them.
