Torrey Green convicted of 8 charges, acquitted of 3
BRIGHAM CITY — An eight-person jury found Torrey Green guilty on eight of 11 sexual assault charges, they announced Friday at the 1st District Court in Brigham City.
The charges stem from sexual assault allegations from six women between 2013-15.
Green, a former Utah State University linebacker and NFL prospect, was found guilty of five counts of rape, one count of forcible sexual abuse and one count of object rape. He was found not guilty of one count of forcible sexual abuse, one count of object rape and one count of aggravated kidnapping. The jury found him not guilty of one for one count of forcible sexual abuse, but guilty of a lesser charge of sexual battery.
He was originally charged with six counts of rape, two counts of object rape and one count of aggravated kidnapping.
A jury comprised of five men and three women deliberated for about 13 hours before handing down the verdict.
Below are details of each case. The Utah Statesman has identified each victim by her initials:
M.H.
She matched with Green on Tinder, met up once in the Merrill-Cazier Library at Utah State University, then agreed to go on a date later in November 2013. The two went to Green’s apartment at Legacy Village, where he cooked dinner for them and put on a movie. While watching the movie in his bedroom, M.H. said Green offered her a back massage. She consented, with the condition that he not touch her under her clothes. She said he began trying to take her shirt off, and, after multiple physical and verbal attempts to stop him, it turned into a struggle.
M.H. said that when she resisted, Green said things like “You’ll like it.” “I’m big.” “I’m really good at this.”
He then raped her, she said, and after some time she gave up and “prayed that it would end soon.”
She immediately told a man who she was dating off and on, and at the time had agreed to date other people but not get physically intimate.
She also wrote a poem about that night and posted it on Tumblr.
She reported to the police in August of 2016 after she and some friends were discussing the then-recent news article about the two other allegations. Her friends encouraged her to report it to the police, which she then did.
Green’s story matched up until the massage — he said M.H. took her shirt off and they later had consensual sex.
Skye Lazaro, Green’s defense attorney, argued that M.H. was ashamed for having sex with Green and breaking the agreement she had with her ex-boyfriend, so she made up the accusation to shift the blame.
C.D.
Green approached her in the USU Taggart Student Center during the fall semester of 2014, her freshman year. They texted for a while, then for their first date he picked her up and took her to his apartment. She said he made dinner, but she was nervous and didn’t eat. As they watched a movie in his bedroom, they began kissing, which she said she was fine with. Then he grabbed her buttocks and legs, which she objected to. He tried to remove her clothes, she said, and she continued to resist.
Wanting an excuse to leave, C.D. said she told Green she needed to go home to do homework.
“You don’t want to go home,” she said Green replied. “This will be fun. You’ll like it.”
He pinned her up against the wall, then pinned her down on his bed and raped her as she cried, she said in court last week.
She told her friend that night, and told her mother later. She wrote an essay about being raped for an English class that semester. In the essay and in telling her friend, she said she didn’t know her attacker’s name.
C.D. reported to the police in 2016 after her mom saw a story in the news about rape allegations that seemed similar to her account.
Green claims he did not have sex with C.D. — they only kissed and that he only touched her buttocks consensually, he said, and she was only at his place for about half an hour. He told the jury Tuesday that he did not have sex with her because he was taking pills for chlamydia treatment. Lazaro filed a medical record from Planned Parenthood as evidence to corroborate his account.
Lazaro also questioned why C.D. claimed to not know her attacker originally. She responded that she was scared, she did not want to face the reality of what happened, and she did not want to ruin Green’s life or career.
On Wednesday, Spencer Walsh, the Cache County attorney, shared findings from the North Park Police investigation that appeared to contradict Green’s claim that he was taking chlamydia medication at the time of their date.
According to AT&T phone records, C.D. and Green texted back and forth for several days leading up to Sep. 22, 2014. On that night, C.D. did not send any texts between about 7-9 p.m. Then she texted her friend, who she testified she went to immediately that night and told him she was raped.
After that night, C.D. and Green did not text until Oct. 18, 2014, phone records showed.
Walsh said these records prove Green lied about his encounter with C.D. — first, the two hours of no texting seemed out of character for her, because she seemed to be constantly texting people throughout the day every day. Walsh pointed out that attested to only spending half an hour with her.
Walsh also pointed out to the jury that Green was prescribed chlamydia pills on Oct. 6, 2014, and he brought in a nurse to testify that the instructions for the medication are to avoid sex for 7-10 days. Green testified that he and C.D. texted the night of their date to arrange a time and pickup location. And although C.D. could not recall the exact date of the alleged assault, Walsh pointed out that if it was in September, likely the 22nd, or on Oct. 18, either way he would have not been on the pill.
On Thursday morning, Walsh used these findings to diminish Green’s credibility.
“He lied to you folks,” Walsh said. “This was a calculated lie to deceive you.”
L.P.
She met Green on Tinder and agreed to a date in October 2014. They watched a movie in his bedroom, and after a short time she said Green attempted to kiss her, and she declined. She said he then tried to take off her shirt and put his hands under it, and she pulled and resisted. She told him she did not want to get physical at all, at which point she said Green became aggressive and agitated. She said Green forcefully “spooned” her on his bed, where they laid quietly for a short time until he fell asleep. She got off the bed and tried to leave, she said, but Green woke up and got out of bed. She said she backed away from him and ended up in his bathroom, where she said he pinned her arms and grinded against her. She managed to duck under him, but he caught her and pinned her against the bedroom wall, she said. As she resisted, she said Green told her, “Come on, you’ll like it.”
She then said to Green, “What would your mother think of you?”
She said after that, Green released her and said, “You’re not even worth it.”
He dropped her off back at her place, where she said she told him, “Don’t call me, don’t text me, don’t contact me ever again.”
She told her roommates that night and her mom the next morning on the phone.
She described the alleged assault as being “raped with my clothes on.”
She did not immediately report to the police — she wondered how she would prove he raped her, and assumed he would deny it.
But she promised herself that if she ever heard of another woman assaulted by Green, she would come forward.
Later that year, she was at a USU basketball game at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum with her family. She saw Green from a distance, and immediately froze. Her mother had to pull her through the crowd to exit the building; she was not responding or moving.
About two years later, she saw an article about Green that someone shared on Facebook. She quickly scrolled past, not wanting to see his face, but then decided to go back and read the story. She then called the police to report that Green had assaulted her too.
“I only wanted to help if it would help the other women,” she said.
Green testified Tuesday that the two were sitting on his bed when he tried to kiss her, but she said no. She then consented to cuddle and for a kiss on the cheek, he said. He said there was no sexual contact at all.
V.S.
She was the first to report to the police.
She met Green outside the Taggart Student Center in January 2015. She said she was nervous to be alone with him, and suggested they hang out in the common area of her student housing complex. But Green texted her that he was already on the way being driven by a friend. She agreed to go with them back to Green’s apartment near downtown in Logan — a different apartment from previous allegations. The friend left, she said, and shortly after as they watched a movie Green began trying to take her clothes off. She said she told him many times that she did not want to have her clothes off, but he ignored. She said he carried her to his bedroom and raped her on his bed. She said he asked her, “How do you like it?” and she responded, “I don’t like it. I don’t want to do it.” She said Green replied “Just let me finish.”
Afterward, he said, “You’re not the kind of girl who would report a rape, would you?”
She reported the attack to her resident assistant, then to the Sexual Assault and Anti-Violence Information office at USU, then to the Logan police.
With a detective, V.S. called Green to confront him. He said he didn’t think she said no, but agreed that he did say the line about reporting rape. Charges were not filed after the investigation, which Walsh said was because the detective mishandled the case and made it sound like a consensual encounter in his report.
Green said the two were having consensual sex, but she seemed nervous so he stopped to ask if she was OK with it. She said yes, he told jurors on Tuesday, so they continued. He then stopped again, he said, wanting to play it safe and not feel like he was pressuring her into sex.
He claimed that when he said “you wouldn’t report a rape,” he was double checking to make sure she was not accusing him of forcing her when that was not the case, as he said he got consent but stopped because it felt uncomfortable.
A.P.
She and Green met via Tinder. Late one night in late spring or early summer of 2015, Green messaged her asking if he could come over to her apartment at Legacy Village (he no longer lived there). She told him no, that it was too late. He kept pushing though, she said, eventually telling her he was already on his way and later that he was already there.
She let him in, hoping it would be a quick visit, she said.
They talked for a while, and eventually she told him he needed to leave, she said. He responded, “No, I don’t want to leave yet.” She said he kissed her and she kissed back, but then when he made sexual advances and she resisted, he told her she would like it and that he was “really good.”
She went to her bedroom, where she said Green followed her and then raped her. She said she locked herself in her own bathroom afterward when he fell asleep, and stayed there until he left in the morning. She did not report it immediately because she felt responsible for letting him into her apartment. A.P. said she did not expect anyone to believe her; she said she knew friends who reported rape but nothing came from it.
She reported to SAAVI and the police later that year.
She later began dating another man, who said he heard her say “No,” “Stop,” and “Torrey” when she had nightmares.
Green claims that A.P. willingly let him into her apartment and was wearing only a bra and underwear, wrapped in a blanket. He said they had consensual sex. Lazaro told the jury that A.P. did not want her new boyfriend to be angry at her for having sex with Green shortly before they started dating, so she fabricated the rape accusation.
C.H.
The two matched on Tinder and went on a date to the Aggie Creamery. They then went to Green’s apartment to watch a movie. C.H. told Green she did not like scary movies, but said he put one on anyway. She was uncomfortable with the movie, and turned in to face Green as they sat on the couch. He kissed her, which she said was OK but told him she didn not want to have sex.
She said he removed her clothing against her wishes, then raped her as she cried. She said Green told her, “You know you’ll like this.”
Afterward, similar to V.S., C.H. said Green asked her, “You wouldn’t be the type of girl who would report this, would you?” He said he had seen friends’ careers ruined by reports of rape, and that “it could ruin me.”
She did not report to police immediately, but did tell her sorority sisters shortly after when they noticed she was becoming distant. She told them it was a football player, but did not tell them his name.
When she saw the story about other women accusing Green of rape, prosecutors say she realized how bad it was and reported to the police so the women would know they were not the only ones.
Green said the two had consensual sex, but she told him it was hurting so he stopped. She told him he could continue, but slow down, he testified, but stopped again when she said it was hurting.