Judge: Ex-Utah State player accused of rape to stand trial

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) A Utah judge ruled on Wednesday that there is enough evidence against a former Utah State University football player accused of sexually assaulting seven women for the cases to go to trial.

Torrey Green, 23, is charged with sexually assaulting the women from 2013 to 2015, when he was a student.

Judge Brian Cannell's ruling came after lawyers gave closing statements to wrap up evidentiary hearings in March. The hearings involved testimony from seven women who described the alleged assaults, The Salt Lake Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/2oVV8Qy ).

Green has maintained his innocence and is jailed without bail. He had signed a free agent contract with the Atlanta Falcons, but the team released him last summer after the allegations were made public.

Most of the women described similar experiences leading up to the alleged assaults, saying they met Green on the Utah State campus or through Tinder, a dating app, and then went over to his apartment to watch a movie.

One woman said during the hearings that Green lured her to his apartment by offering to make dinner. Once there, she said he raped her.

She later told police she was raped, but did not tell officers Green's name out of fear, she said.

''I was scared. I didn't want to ruin his life,'' she said. Naming him, she said, would ''make it real.''

The Associated Press generally does not identify alleged victims of sexual assault.

Green has been charged with 12 felonies, including rape, forcible sex abuse, object rape and aggravated kidnapping.

The judge said he will not make a decision on whether Green should be tried on the kidnapping charge until he receives more information from attorneys.

A county prosecutor last summer began reviewing the cases against Green after The Salt Lake Tribune reported the allegations.

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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com