Tylin “Tybo” Rogers, a sophomore running back for the University of Washington football team, has been arrested and charged in King County Superior Court with the rape of two women.
Rogers, 18, was arrested around 9 a.m. Friday in the 3900 block of Montlake Boulevard, where Husky Stadium is, according to the Seattle Police Department. He was released from jail the next day after posting bond for 10% of his $300,000 bail.
On Tuesday, he was charged with one count of second-degree rape and one count of third-degree rape.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said it “rush filed” the charges, which is reserved for more serious cases in which there’s greater interest in keeping the defendant in custody.
“Tybo is innocent. He is going to fight every inch of these false claims,” Rogers’ attorney Robert Flennaugh said in a statement.
In a statement, the UW said it suspended Rogers indefinitely from all team activities. Rogers is scheduled to be arraigned April 18.
Here’s what we know.
What happened?
Rogers began talking with a woman, a student at Seattle Central College, on the dating app Tinder in August of last year, according to the charging document. After a short conversation, the woman ignored Rogers and his Instagram messages for months.
The woman eventually responded to Rogers on Instagram, after which he asked if he could come to the woman’s apartment midday. Before agreeing to have Rogers come over, the woman told Rogers she did not want to have sex, according to the document.
Rogers came to the woman’s house Oct. 23, police said in their probable cause document. When the woman’s roommate left for work, Rogers asked the woman if they were alone. Then he asked her to come closer, grabbed her and forcefully kissed her, police said.
The woman verbally resisted, but Rogers proceeded to rape the woman, police allege.
The woman went to Harborview Medical Center to have a rape kit done when Rogers left. The woman also reported the rape to law enforcement Oct. 28, prosecutors said in the charging document.
The second woman, a UW undergraduate, said she met Rogers at a Halloween party last year. Later, after matching on Tinder, the two talked briefly and decided to meet in person sometime between Halloween and Thanksgiving, charges say.
During their meetup, Rogers raped the woman, even as she was yelling for him to stop. He covered her mouth and yelled “No,” prosecutors said. The woman also said Rogers used one of his hands to choke her, restricting her breathing. The assault lasted about 20 minutes, charges say.
The woman reported the rape to Seattle police Feb. 23, charges say.
Prosecutors say the Seattle Central College student filed a Title IX complaint against Rogers with the UW in late November. The woman also posted on her Instagram story about the assault to warn others, police said.
The woman then got a call from someone who identified himself as Rogers, asking her why she was accusing him. The woman had to drop out of school after the assault, police said.
What kind of charges is Rogers facing?
Rogers is facing one count of second-degree rape and one count of third-degree rape.
Second-degree rape is defined as having sexual intercourse by the use of force and is punishable by up to life in prison. Third-degree rape means a victim did not give consent and is punishable by up to five years in prison.
Both are felonies.
Who is Tylin “Tybo” Rogers?
Rogers is a 5-foot-11, 185-pound running back from Bakersfield High School in California.
He played in 12 games for the UW last season, carrying the ball 44 times for 184 yards. He also had six catches for 72 yards and made three tackles mainly as a special teams contributor.
He quickly rose in the depth chart because of a season-ending injury to tailback Cameron Davis.
He had missed the first two games of the season serving a suspension for violating unspecified team rules.
When were the allegations reported to UW?
Prosecutors say the Seattle Central College student filed a Title IX complaint against Rogers with the UW on Nov. 28, when the student received a phone call from Rogers.
Did Rogers play after the allegations were reported to UW?
Rogers was suspended early in UW’s fall camp for violating team rules, unrelated to the allegations, before eventually making his Husky debut against Michigan State on Sept. 16.
Rogers was suspended from team activities around the end of November 2023, police said, and did not travel with Washington to Las Vegas for the Pac-12 championship game on Dec. 1.
On Dec. 13 when he was asked of Rogers’ status, Ryan Grubb, then Washington’s offensive coordinator, told Sports Illustrated’s FanNation site Inside the Huskies, “We’re working through some things, some challenges he had off the field. … I can’t comment on what it was exactly, but Tybo’s done a great job with being here, listening to directions and just working through this moment and really being a good steward of the team.”
Police investigators believe there’s a connection between the Title IX complaint and Rogers not traveling for the Pac-12 championship game.
Rogers played in both of Washington’s College Football Playoff games in January. He had five carries for 19 yards against Texas in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, then added a carry and a catch against Michigan in the CFP championship game.
Why did it take so long for Seattle Police to arrest and charge Rogers?
Both cases happened around late October and November of last year, prosecutors said in charging documents. The first report was filed Oct. 28, while the second report was filed Feb. 23.
Seattle police Officer Brian Pritchard declined to answer questions about Rogers, saying the case is still an open investigation.
What other allegation does Rogers face?
Prosecutors in charging documents said Rogers was also involved in a case where he and someone else were “violently attacking a bicyclist after an altercation on the roadway.”
“If released, Rogers is likely to commit another violent crime,” prosecutors said.
Camden Malone, a 21-year-old Shoreline Community College student, told The Times that Rogers attacked him while he was biking home from work in March.
Tim Robinson, a Seattle City Attorney’s Office spokesperson, said Wednesday that the office is still reviewing Malone’s case and therefore couldn’t comment.
What has the university and football staff said about the situation?
A UW spokesperson provided a statement, saying the Intercollegiate Athletics Department is aware of the arrest.
“The student-athlete has been suspended from all team activities until further notice,” UW athletics spokesperson Jeff Bechthold said in the statement. “The UW will continue to gather facts and cooperate with law enforcement, as requested.”
The UW did not immediately answer whether Rogers remains a student at the university.
“UW cooperated and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement in this matter,” university spokesperson Genevieve Haas said in a statement Wednesday. “As a result of this arrest, new information has been made available to the UW, and this information will be fully investigated.”
Grubb, head coach Kalen DeBoer and athletic director Troy Dannen, who were all at Washington when the allegation was reported to the university, are no longer part of the UW’s athletic department. DeBoer departed for Alabama on Jan. 12, briefly taking Grubb with him before the offensive coordinator returned to Seattle as the Seahawks’ offensive coordinator. Dannen exited March 20 to take the athletic director job at Nebraska.
Grubb did not respond Wednesday to two interview requests by The Times. He told KING 5 Wednesday that he was not comfortable commenting on the case.
In a statement, DeBoer said he is not able to comment “because of federal privacy laws and the ongoing criminal matters.”
“I do want to make it clear that I take any allegation of sexual misconduct very seriously,” DeBoer said in the statement. “I always have and always will follow established institutional policies and procedures to ensure prompt reporting and proper handling of allegations by the appropriate authorities.”
Dannen declined to comment.
“I wasn’t here for that,” new Washington coach Jedd Fisch said after UW’s fourth spring practice on Tuesday. “That had nothing to do with what we do here. As soon as I found out about the allegations, as soon as it was brought to our attention, he’s been suspended indefinitely. I have no comment about what happened in the past. That has nothing to do with me.”
Fisch said he wasn’t aware of Rogers’ previous suspension until recently.
When does UW suspend or not suspend its athletes?
According to UW’s student-athlete handbook, the vice president or vice provost for student life and possibly the Title IX coordinator should be informed of student athletes who may have violated the university’s student code of conduct, which includes Title IX-related policies.
Student athletes can also be suspended from team activities if they are under investigation for a violation of the university’s student conduct code or for criminal conduct, such as being arrested or charged, according to the handbook.
Any request to lift the suspension must be approved by the athletic director, according to the handbook.
Seattle Times staff reporters Catalina Gaitán, Caitlyn Freeman and Andy Yamashita contributed to this report.