No bail for former USU football player accused of sexual assault
No bail will be posted for former Utah State University football player Torrey Green.
Judge Brian Cannell said he thinks Green is a risk to the community. Green will remain in Cache County jail until his preliminary hearing in March.
Green has no previous criminal record and is facing felony charges of rape, forcible sex abuse and aggravated kidnapping.
Skye Lazaro, Green’s attorney, argued Green had a basic right to bail. Lazaro said Green “was completely cooperative in the arresting process and would be willing to comply with any restrictions such as house arrest or 24-hour supervision.”
Lazaro also said those who know Green are heartbroken over the allegations.
“The people I spoke with think the world of him. He was one of nine children — he would help his family and would volunteer at his high school.”
Cache County Prosecutor Spencer Walsh, representing the State of Utah against Green, argued similarities between the incidents proved Green was “a risk to the community.”
Detective Ulysses Black of the North Park Police Department, who testified in the case, said he interviewed a woman, referred to as “M.H.”, regarding her story.
According to Black’s testimony, M.H. said she met Green on Tinder — a dating app — and arranged to meet him in a public place. He later brought her back to his North Logan apartment, where he started a movie and offered her a massage. She agreed, but told him she wanted to keep her clothes on. Green tried to remove her shirt but she fought and resisted him. M.H. momentarily escaped Green’s grasp but was eventually pinned down on his bed, where he removed her clothes and allegedly raped her. Black said Green also told M.H. he was “really big” and she would enjoy it, even after she repeatedly asked him to stop and tried to resist.
Walsh argued that Black’s testimony regarding M.H.’s experience bore similarities to the other six cases brought against Green.
Green met all but one of the seven women on Tinder and all but one were allegedly sexually assaulted or raped during their first encounter with him.
Other similarities cited by Walsh included the location of the reported incidents — Green’s apartment — and a “disregard” for the victim’s lack of consent to sexual activity. In addition, Green reportedly removed the women’s clothing without consent and told each woman she would “enjoy” the alleged assault.
Lazaro argued that questions about the media’s role in publicizing the case needed to be discussed since several of the allegations against Green resurfaced following the Salt Lake Tribune’s initial coverage of the case.
“All of the sudden people see media reports, call the police and say, ‘It was that guy,’” she said.
Green will be held in Cache County Jail until his three-day preliminary hearing from March 29 to 31.
@alison__berg