SEATTLE (AP) — University of Washington football player Tylin “Tybo” Rogers pleaded guilty Thursday to the alleged rape of two women.
Rogers, a second-year running back, is charged with second- and third-degree rape, each of which carries a sentence of life in prison and five years in prison, respectively. He was arrested on April 5 and released the next day after posting bail of 10% of his $300,000 bail, records show.
Rogers argued in use at his arraignment in King County Superior Court in downtown Seattle, where a ruling was issued on sexual assault cover orders ordered for either woman. The order forces Rogers to stay away from women.
Rogers’ relatives appeared in court.
“I don’t know if he behaves that way with other women or other people, if he has anger issues or what, but it’s dangerous,” said Meredith Clark, a victims’ rights advocate for the city of Seattle.
Clark spoke on behalf of one of the women in the audience. “That night, he immediately started acting aggressively with me, he didn’t even give me a chance to give my consent, he was just looking to hurt me aggressively. at the UW, I’m afraid I’ll see him again someday or that he’ll send other people to contact me. I think it’s detrimental to me, to others, to the network, and to the other girls. ” she said.
After the hearing, Rogers’ attorney, Robert Flennaugh II, told the outdoor media in the courtroom that “there are a lot of issues and we will address them in court. “
The trial is scheduled for July 8.
According to charging documents released weekly, Rogers allegedly raped the first woman, a Seattle Central College student, about 3 months after they met on the dating app Tinder in August.
The woman had agreed to let Rogers into her Capitol Hill apartment on the night of Oct. 23, but told him she wasn’t interested in sex, records show.
After the roommate left the apartment to go to work, Rogers allegedly grabbed her by the face and jaw and tried to force her to perform oral sex, records show.
The woman told Rogers “we shouldn’t do this” repeatedly, but Rogers then pushed the woman’s head against the couch and began raping her, she told police, according to the affidavit.
After Rogers left their apartment, they wiped her body with towels and took them to Harborview Medical Center to complete a sexual assault kit, according to court documents.
In late November, the woman filed a Title IX complaint against Rogers with the University of Washington, prompting an internal investigation ordered by the federal government, records show.
Court records show Rogers was suspended from team activities around the same time, though he never officially announced it through the athletic branch or coaching staff. Rogers was not in Las Vegas on Dec. 1 for the Pac-12 championship game.
According to police investigators, the Title IX complaint is similar to Rogers’ removal from the active traveler list for the game.
“We’re working on some things, some of the demanding situations he faces off the field,” Ryan Grubb, the UW’s offensive coordinator at the time and now the Seahawks’ offensive coordinator, told Sports Illustrated Inside the Huskies’ FanNation on Dec. 13.
“I can’t say what it was exactly, but Tybo did a wonderful job of being here, listening to orders and running around at the time and being a smart team manager,” he said.
Rogers returned to practice on Dec. 15. He played in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 against Texas and in the school football playoff championship game against Michigan on Jan. 8.
A 22-year-old woman then contacted Seattle police on Feb. 23 and said Rogers raped her between Halloween and Thanksgiving.
The woman, a University of Washington college student, told police she met Rogers at a Halloween party at a space on Greek Street on campus. The two met on Tinder and eventually met at his off-campus apartment weeks later, according to a probable cause affidavit from Seattle police.
Rogers came alive less than a minute after entering the woman’s apartment, throwing her onto a bed and ripping off her clothes, the affidavit states. He allegedly sexually assaulted the woman for about 20 minutes, while she yelled at him to stop. At one point, he strangled her, police said.
She told police that Rogers left after the alleged assault. The woman said her face and neck were red and sore for days after the attack.
Prosecutors, in charging documents, said Rogers was also concerned about a case in which he and another person “violently attacked a bicyclist after an altercation on the road. “
“If released, Rogers will most likely commit violent crimes,” prosecutors said.
Camden Malone, a 21-year-old student at Shoreline Community College, told The Times that Rogers attacked him as he rode his motorcycle home from the frames in March.
On Friday, the University of Washington released a story about Rogers’ arrest, saying it did not know the extent of the charges against him until they were made public last Tuesday.
The University of Washington on Friday called the allegations against Rogers “serious and concerning. ” Beyond those three words, however, the University of Washington cited federal student privacy legislation that prevents the university from commenting on individual students.
Troy Dannen, Washington’s athletic director until March, when he left for the same position at the University of Nebraska, declined to comment when contacted via the Times on April 10.
Former University of Washington football coach Kalen DeBoer, now Alabama’s head coach, said last week that he likely wouldn’t comment because of federal privacy laws, but that he “has always stood firm and will always adhere to established institutional policies and procedures to ensure the activation of reports and the proper handling of complaints through the appropriate authorities.
Seattle Times contributed to this report’s Catalina Gaitan, Caitlyn Freeman and Andy Yamashita.