Tennessee State quarterback Demry Croft was arrested and charged with six counts of rape and two counts of sexual battery following a grand jury indictment.
All of the charges are felonies and stem from an incident that reportedly occurred Dec. 1.
Tennessee State released a statement about the arrest but didn’t mention Croft specifically.
“The University is aware that a student athlete was arrested in a criminal matter,” the statement read. “Due to federal and state student privacy laws, no further comment can be made at this time. However, the University takes seriously any allegation of sexual misconduct that may affect our campus community.”
Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County court records show Croft was arrested Monday with bond set at $50,000. He was released later in the day.
His arraignment was set for Sept. 4.
WSMV in Nashville reported that grand jury indictments obtained by the station allege that Croft “intentionally engaged in unlawful sexual contact” as well as “unlawful sexual penetration” with a woman without her consent.
Croft, 22, began his college career with Minnesota, and he started the final six games of the 2017 regular season as a sophomore. After the season ended, he announced he was transferring because he had been “falsely accused of damaging a door.”
He moved on to Tennessee State of the Ohio Valley Conference and started four games in 2018, completing 61 of 101 passes for 888 yards with eight touchdowns and two interceptions. He missed the final five games of the season with a shoulder injury.
The redshirt senior had been working with the first team in summer practice but was not at the Tigers’ scrimmage on Saturday, and school officials would not confirm his status with the team.
“He had some personal issues he’s dealing with so we allowed him to be off (Saturday),” coach Rod Reed said, according to the Tennessean newspaper. “Whenever that gets handled, we’ll see what happens.”
The Tennessean reported that Tennessee State has closed practice to the media and the public for the rest of the week.
Tennessee State opens its season Aug. 31 against Mississippi Valley State.
