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CAMBRIDGE -- A Sarahsville, Ohio, man on the Philadelphia Eagles football team has been indicted for rape and kidnapping in Guernsey County, state and local authorities announced Wednesday.
Backup lineman Josh Sills, 25, was accused by the Guernsey County Grand Jury of engaging in sexual activity that was not consensual and holding a woman against her will in December 2019, a joint statement from Attorney General Dave Yost and Guernsey County Sheriff Jeffrey D. Paden said.
He was charged with one count of rape and one count of kidnapping, both first-degree felonies.
The crime was immediately reported and the Guernsey County Sheriff's Office conducted a detailed investigation, the statement said. The case was presented to the grand jury and is being prosecuted by the Special Prosecutions Section of the Attorney General's Office.
A spokesman for the Attorney General had no comment on the time frame of the grand jury or the investigation.
The Eagles on Feb. 12 will play in Super Bowl LVII and are the slight favorites against the Kansas City Chiefs. Sills was issued a summons to appear in Guernsey County Common Pleas Court at 1 p.m. Feb. 16.
"The organization is aware of the legal matter involving Josh Sills. We have been in communication with the league office and are in the process of gathering more information. We have no further comment at this time," the Eagles said in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon.
Sills, No. 61, is 6-foot-6 and weighs 325 pounds, according to the Eagles website. Sills went to Meadowbrook High School in Guernsey County and played football at West Virginia University before transferring to Oklahoma State University where he was a team captain.
The Eagles signed him as a free agent in 2022. Sills played in one game this season and has been on the inactive list.