NFL player Barkevious Mingo has been arrested after allegedly sexually assaulting a boy in Texas in 2019.
Mingo, 30, has been charged with indecency with a child-sexual contact, a second-degree felony with a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Police allege that the incident took place on July 4, 2019, in Arlington, Tex.. Mingo allegedly took a teenage family member and a friend to an amusement park and a go-kart track, as well as a local steakhouse for dinner, Sports Illustrated reports.
Later that night, they returned to the hotel where they were staying. The boy said that he woke to find Mingo in his bed, which he thought was “odd,” but fell back asleep.
“The victim was then woken by [Mingo] pulling at his underwear,” police records state. “This occurred for a few minutes until the suspect got more…aggressive and pulled the victim’s underwear down to his shins.
“The victim advised that when this was occurring, he was scared and pretended to be asleep. [Mingo] put a lotion on that made the victim’s skin burn and … rubbed his penis up and down, in between the victim’s butt crack.”
The victim said that in addition to the day out, Mingo also offered both him and his friend a shopping spree on Nike.com.
The boy’s mother reported the allegations to police in January 2021, with police obtaining a search warrant for Mingo’s shopping records in February. They found evidence of three orders Mingo made on Nike.com, which police said corroborated the victim’s statements.
“Furthermore it is known to [the detective] … that purchasing gifts for children is a known ‘grooming’ behavior in Child Sexual Abuse cases,” police said.
Mingo submitted himself to police last Thursday, July 8, and was released Friday on a $25,000 bond, according to Tarrant County records.
On Saturday, he was released from his one-year contract with the Atlanta Falcons.
“After being made aware today of allegations involving Barkevious Mingo and gathering information on the matter, the Atlanta Falcons have terminated his contract,” the team said in a statement.
Mingo’s lawyer rejected the allegations in a statement to ESPN and hit out at the Falcons for dropping Mingo before he has had “his day in court.”
“We are extremely disappointed in the Atlanta Falcons’ rush to judgment in terminating Barkevious Mingo’s contract before gathering all of the relevant facts and prior to my client having his day in court,” Chris Lewis said. “The accusation against Mr. Mingo is a lie. Barkevious knows it — so does his accuser.”
Lewis said Mingo would be “fully vindicated when the truth comes to light. When that happens, the true motivation of the accuser will be clear and unambiguous.”
Prior to playing for the Atlanta Falcons, Mingo played for the Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots, Chicago Bears, and two other teams.
For better and for worse, the gay teen thriller Ganymede manages to capture the bleak horror of having to listen to a frothing anti-gay rant from some amped-up street corner preacher, or loud-mouthed bully. The kind of slur-filled noise that transmits fear and hate, and not a hint of Christian love.
Too many queer and questioning teens -- like the film's protagonist, high school wrestler Lee Fletcher IV (Jordan Doww) -- are subjected to that barrage every day, at home, at church, at school. Lee's small-town life is one long sermon on traditional values, ministered by his strict religious parents, and hellfire-spouting church pastor, all of whom are aware that the boy is battling certain so-called demons.
A man has been arrested and charged in an attack on a 17-year-old transgender girl at Miami International Airport on July 20.
Alexander Love, 29, an Ohio resident most recently staying in Miami, faces charges of first-degree attempted murder with a deadly weapon and attempted premeditated murder for stabbing the victim at least 18 times and attempting to throw her off a fourth-floor balcony.
Miami-Dade police say the unidentified victim is a transgender girl who is in the process of transitioning. It's unclear whether she was attacked due to her gender identity.
A gay man who attended the high school where Tim Walz and his wife, Gwen, worked as teachers is praising the Minnesota governor and Democratic vice presidential candidate's longstanding support for LGBTQ individuals.
Jacob Reitan, who, in 1999, became the first out gay student at Mankato West High School, recently spoke with former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki for a segment during the August 7 edition of her MSNBC show, Inside with Jen Psaki.
Reitan, who was one of Gwen Walz's English literature students in 1997, recalled how, on the first day of class, she informed students that her classroom would be a "safe space" for LGBTQ students. Tim Walz, meanwhile, would go on to serve as the faculty sponsor of the school's first gay-straight alliance club, which Reitan helped start.
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