Amir Riep and Jahsen Wint at their arraignment hearing on Feb. 13. Credit: Cori Wade | Assistant Photo Editor
Amir Riep and Jahsen Wint each pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape and one count of kidnapping Friday at an arraignment hearing in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.
The former Ohio State football players were each indicted by a Franklin County Grand Jury on Feb. 21 and face a maximum consecutive sentence of 33 years incarceration as well as registration as sex offenders, according to a statement from Franklin County prosecutor Ron O’Brien.
O’Brien said in the statement that the victim watched a movie with Riep and Wint before the rape occurred.
According to an affidavit filed by Columbus Police, the incident is alleged to have occurred Feb. 4, when a 19-year-old woman began to engage in consensual sex with Riep before moving away and stating she did not want to continue.
According to the complaint, Riep forced the victim onto her hands and knees and raped her. Riep then held her in place while Wint forced oral penetration, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit said Riep recorded a video of the woman and told her to say it was consensual while she was crying and he laughed at her. The statement said Riep then drove the victim back to her residence.
Dan Sabol, Riep’s defense attorney, said the video was not properly reported on previously.
“What the detective relayed that was in it is not entirely accurate, and I’m looking forward to it being played in open court,” Sabol said.
Sam Shamanksy, Wint’s defense attorney, said he would not advise any client to make such a video, because he said “a very real argument can be made that that’s consciousness of wrongdoing.”
Following his client’s initial court appearance Feb. 13, Shamansky said although he hadn’t seen the video, Wint was not in it.
“The preliminary information we have reveals to me that her accusations are just so wildly unsupported that it only reinforces that this entire rape is nothing but a figment of her imagination,” Shamansky said Friday. “Why she feels the need to do this? Only she knows.”
Riep and Wint were arrested Feb. 11 and dismissed from the Ohio State football program the following day. Shamansky said there was no communication between the parties prior to the decision.
“There’s a zillion ways to safeguard the student body and let my client finish his education,” Shamansky said. “They didn’t wanna hear any of it, ostensibly because they’ve turned their back so long to all the systemic problems they’ve had, now all of the sudden they’re gonna be hypervigilant and forget about individual rights.”
Ohio State head football coach Ryan Day said no when asked if Riep or Wint had any possibility of rejoining the team following practice Monday.
Bond was set at $100,000 for Riep and $75,000 for Wint by judge Cynthia Ebner at Franklin County Municipal Court Feb. 13 under the condition that neither co-defendant contact each other or the victim, or post on social media about the case.
Both Riep and Wint will remain free on bond, and Shamansky said he expects a judge to be assigned Monday, at which point he said pre-trial and trial dates will be announced.
