Tybo Rogers, a Washington Huskies’ sophomore running back hailing from Bakersfield, California, is at the center of serious allegations involving the sexual assault of two women he purportedly met separately through an online dating service during the previous football season.
These accusations were detailed in charging documents presented by the county prosecutor’s office on Tuesday.
Rogers was notably absent from Saturday’s spring football practice, and the university swiftly moved to suspend him indefinitely from the team ahead of Tuesday’s afternoon workout.
Although the alleged incidents occurred during Kalen DeBoer’s tenure as head coach, the responsibility of addressing the situation fell upon the newly appointed football leader, Jedd Fisch, who faced a barrage of media inquiries following practice.
“From the very beginning, our message is you do the right thing, on and off the field,” Fisch said. “That’s never changed. There’s zero tolerance for doing things off the field inappropriately.”
The charging documents provide distressing accounts of what transpired after Rogers encountered the two women in October of the previous year. Notably, the victims were unrelated, with one being a student at Seattle Community College and the other a UW student.
Reportedly, Rogers connected with both women through the dating app Tinder and is accused of engaging in non-consensual sexual acts with them after being invited to their respective apartments. Subsequently, he contacted one of the women to express displeasure after she reported him to the authorities, as revealed in the documents.
According to the allegations, Rogers assaulted the first woman at her apartment while one roommate was at work and another was asleep. The second encounter occurred after Rogers briefly met the second woman at a Halloween party and then connected with her on Tinder. Once again, he allegedly forced himself upon the victim at her residence.
Rogers, who was DeBoer’s inaugural recruit for the Class of 2023, arrived at UW with high expectations as a talented running back potentially destined for a professional football career. Despite making appearances in 12 UW games, more than any other freshman, his tenure was marred by disciplinary issues. He was previously suspended by DeBoer for violating undisclosed team training rules during fall camp last August, resulting in him missing the first two games of the season.
Following the school’s awareness of the investigation into Rogers’ alleged sexual assaults, the coaching staff opted not to include him in the lineup for the Pac-12 championship game in Las Vegas. However, he was later reinstated and participated in both the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans and the College Football Playoff championship game in Houston.
Rogers participated in the Washington Huskies’ initial two spring practices before being sidelined from Saturday’s session. With the gravity of the charges against him, his football career is now in jeopardy, compounded by the potential for significant prison time if convicted.
Prosecutors have recommended bail set at $300,000 for the offenses, which include second-degree and third-degree rape charges.
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