Ohio State players accused of rape, kidnapping dismissed from team; to be arraigned today

Late Wednesday afternoon, coach Ryan Day announced they had been kicked off the team.

“I have dismissed Amir Riep and Jahsen Wint from our football program,” Day said. “I am not making any statement on the criminal charges, but it is clear they did not live up to our standards and my expectations. The athletics department will make sure they both continue to have access to the health and well-being resources available to students and student-athletes. Due to the ongoing criminal investigation, I will not be commenting further.”

Both players are set to be arraigned at 9 a.m. today in Franklin County municipal court.

According to an affidavit of probable cause obtained by the Dayton Daily News, Riep and a female were in a north Columbus apartment and began having consensual sex. The female then pulled away from him and told him she did not want to continue, according to the report.

At that point Wint entered the room and asked Riep if he could join them, the report stated. The woman said Wint then forced her to have sexual contact against her will as Riep held her in place, the report said.

Riep forced the victim to make a video saying their activity had been consensual, the report stated. She was crying and he was laughing at her at that point, according to the affidavit. Riep then drove her back to her residence after telling her she needed to take a shower, the report said.

The team is currently in winter workouts. Spring football practice is scheduled to begin March 2 and conclude April 11.

Riep, a fourth-year senior-to-be from Cincinnati, attended Colerain High School where he was one of the top-rated prospects in the state of Ohio in the class of 2017.

He made 37 career tackles and has been a special teams standout for the Buckeyes and backed up Shaun Wade as the slot cornerback last season. He would have been considered a candidate to move into the starting lineup this season.

Wint, a redshirt senior-to-be, was a four-star recruit from Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, N.Y., when he signed with Ohio State in 2017.

After redshirting in 2016, he has primarily been a reserve defensive back. He had 35 career tackles and one start for the Buckeyes.

This is the first major off-field issue Day will have to deal with since replacing Urban Meyer as head coach of the Buckeyes on Jan. 2, 2019.

Day led the Buckeyes to a 13-1 record last season, including a Big Ten championship and appearance in the College Football Playoff.

Like most coaches, he has stressed the importance of a positive culture in the Ohio State locker room.

The last Ohio State player known to face a legal issue of this magnitude was Brian Snead, a running back from the class of 2018.

Although he did not announce he was transferring until January 2019, an investigation by the Ohio State student newspaper, The Lantern, found he had been dismissed from the university in November 2018 for violating the student code of conduct by engaging in “nonconsensual sexual intercourse and nonconsensual sexual contact.”

No criminal charges were filed stemming from that incident, but it was investigated by university police.