SEATTLE (AP) — A University of Washington football player has been arrested and charged with raping two women in Seattle, and court documents say he played in two college football playoff games for the school after at least one of the charges was known to the university.
Seattle police officers arrested 18-year-old Tylin “Thibault” Rogers on Friday and booked him into the King County Jail, KING-TV reported. He was charged Tuesday with second-degree rape and third-degree rape and his bond was set at $150,000 on each count, according to court documents.
It was not immediately known if Rogers, of Bakersfield, Calif., had an attorney available to comment on his behalf. Jail records show he was released on bond. Efforts to reach him by The Associated Press were not immediately successful.
Rodgers has been suspended from all team activities until further notice, the University of Washington athletic department said in a statement Tuesday. The university will continue to gather facts and cooperate with police as requested, the statement said.
A Seattle Central College student told police she was raped in the Capitol Hill neighborhood last year. According to court documents, Rogers and the 19-year-old woman met and started messaging each other after finding a connection on the dating app Tinder in August 2023. Rogers went to her apartment to hang out on Oct. 23, and assaulted her, according to court documents.
Authorities said in court documents that the woman reported the alleged rape to police on Oct. 28 and filled out a sexual assault kit at Harborview Medical Center.
A 22-year-old University of Washington student reported she was raped in November 2023 on the campus, police said.
The woman met Rogers at a college Halloween party and then met him on Tinder, according to court documents. Police said the two made plans a few weeks later to go out, and that after entering her apartment, Rogers immediately became violent and assaulted her. The woman told police at one point that Rogers “used one hand to strangle her.”
The second woman reported the alleged rape to the university on Nov. 28, police said. Rogers allegedly called her on that date to confront her about the allegations, police said in court documents.
He was also suspended from team activities around the end of November 2023, according to court documents. The freshman running back did not travel with the team for its win over the Oregon Ducks in the Pac-12 Championship Game on Dec. 1.
At the time, offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said during a news conference that Rodgers was “working on some things, some challenges that he’s had off the field,” court documents said. Rodgers returned to team practice by mid-December, the documents said.
Multiple emails were also sent to the University of Washington’s athletic department confirming that Rodgers was to be removed from the team’s travel roster for the Pac-12 championship game, but no documentation was given as to the reasons for such action, the documents said . However, he was allowed to appear in both of the Huskies’ College Football Playoff games a month later.
Rodgers had five carries for 19 yards in the Huskies’ semifinal win over the Texas Longhorns on Jan. 1. The 18-year-old rushed for two yards in the National Championship game against the Michigan Wolverines on Jan. 8.
Washington was coached last season by Cullen DeBoer, who left after the national championship game to take over at Alabama. Jed Fish is now Washington’s head coach.
After Tuesday’s practice, Fish told local media that nothing about Rodgers’ suspension last year or the reasons for it had been brought to his attention.
“I wasn’t here for that,” Fish said. “As soon as I found out about the allegations, as soon as it was presented to us, he was suspended indefinitely. I have no comment on what happened in the past. It has nothing to do with me.”
