Torrey Green: The stories behind the accusations

This is the second part of a two-part series regarding the sexual assault charges against former USU football player Torrey Green. Part one can be found here: https://usustatesman.com/torrey-green-life-jumpsuit/

Trigger warning: This story involves detailed descriptions of sexual violence.

In December 2015, former Utah State University football player Torrey Green became Annaleece Merrill’s nightmare.

That March, Merrill matched with Green on the dating app Tinder. At first, Merrill said, their interactions were “nothing out of the ordinary,” other than the fact that she was underage and pregnant, which he knew.

Merrill was 17 at the time, “so that was kind of creepy because that means his age settings were set to underage girls,” she said.

Green messaged her daily on the app asking for her phone number and after several months of his persistence, she gave it to him — right before she moved back to her home in Northern California for the summer.

When Merrill returned to Logan in August 2015 to continue school at USU, Green knew she had turned 18 and began to ask her for sexual pictures of herself. He also consistently asked her to meet up with him, but she refused to do either one for four months.

In December, Merrill grew tired of Green’s constant contact, so she “broke down” and met him at his apartment. However, she said she repeatedly told him she did not want to engage in sexual acts with him.

As soon as she walked into his North Logan apartment, she said he locked the door and ignored her requests.

She said the two were watching television when Green began kissing her and trying to pull her clothes off. She said she told him she “wasn’t going to do anything with you, did I not make myself clear?”

Nonetheless, Merrill said he refused to acknowledge her repeated pleas that his actions were not OK.

He was “really upset and I got scared that he was getting so angry,” she said. So she fought back.

Grabbing the pressure point on his bicep, Merrill said she told him, “You do not get to touch me.”

Although her actions were in self-defense, Merrill said Green grew agitated and threw her on the floor, yelling that she had “no right to be such a tease.”

Horrified, Merrill said she sat on the floor for a few moments before she ran out the door and to her car as fast as she could.

“He didn’t even know me and he thought it was OK to throw me on the floor — you don’t get to throw … girls on the floor,” she said.

Merrill said Green asked her not to tell anyone what happened because his career was important to him.

“You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to say that because of your career we’re not allowed to do anything about it,” she said.

However, she refused to let the incident ruin her.

“My career is important to me. I’m not going to be an emotional wreck the rest of my life,” she said.

Matt Halton

Merrill said she chose not to report the incident because she felt like she did not have enough evidence against Green. Additionally, when she tried to get a restraining order against the man who had previously assaulted and impregnated her, she felt the court blamed her for actions she did not have control over.

Merrill said she “was accused of being promiscuous,” despite being only 17 years old.

She also did not report the incident to the university because she felt they would not have believed her or taken action.

Leslie, who requested to be named by a pseudonym, shared a similar story.

Leslie matched with Green on Tinder, but was nervous because “the word around town was watch out for Torrey Green and don’t get involved with him,” she said.

After they matched, Leslie said Green persistently invited her to his apartment. When she repeatedly denied his requests, he would yell at her over the phone and tell her he was going to pick her up anyway, she said. But to her relief, he never did.

Several months later, Leslie began attending parties Green also attended. She said she thought he was “nice and social,” so she deemed it safe to accept one of his requests to go to his apartment.

Leslie and a friend were watching a movie with Green at his apartment when her original fears were solidified.

Green repeatedly offered Leslie alcohol, although she denied several times. He grew frustrated and “tried to physically pour it down my throat,” she said.

However, to her surprise, Leslie and her friend left his apartment that night without issue.

“I could definitely see how he could be super aggressive and angry,” she said. “I think since it was two-on-one, he let us go.”

If she were alone with Green, Leslie said she thought the situation would have ended differently.

Although Merrill and Leslie did not report their experiences with Green, their stories reflect similarities between six of Green’s seven sex crime charges.

One woman who brought charges against Green, identified in court documents as A.P., said she and Green matched on Tinder — and shortly afterward, she says Green raped her at her apartment.  

A.P.’s experience speaks to Merrill’s reasoning for not reporting the incident.

A.P. reportedly woke up the day after her assault with bruises, but even that wasn’t enough to convince Utah State University and the Logan City Police Department to take action against Green.

“When I spoke to the detective, it almost seemed like he was attacking me,” she said.

A.P. said she was bombarded with questions she felt weren’t necessary, like, “What were you wearing?” and “Why did you let him in your apartment?”

A.P. said she canceled a follow-up appointment with the detective but made several attempts to reschedule and was never able.

She was the third woman to report Green’s name to the police and, since then, six more women have come forward.

A.P. also did not report the incident to the university because she felt they would not have believed her or taken action.

Merrill and A.P. both said they wished they could encourage other women to report but they could not because they felt the system was not on their side.

“It almost made my situation worse,” A.P. said. “We live in a culture where it’s the woman’s fault.”

James Swink, the Cache County attorney, said in a press conference that of the nine women who reported their incidents, one chose not to move forward with prosecution and another did not have enough evidence to prove a charge.

However, charges were not filed against Green until July 2016, when The Salt Lake Tribune published the allegations.

Since then, Green has been charged with seven counts of sex crimes, and his NFL career ended when he was cut after the allegations were revealed.

Green is currently being held in the Cache County Jail. His hearing will take place from March 29-31, when Judge Brian Cannell will hear arguments from Green’s attorney, Skye Lazaro, and Cache County Prosecutor Spencer Walsh.

If Green is found guilty of all seven charges, he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.

— alisonberg28@gmail.com

@Alison__Berg

Photos by Matt Halton