NFL player Barkevious Mingo accused of indecent sexual contact with teenage boy
Mingo was dropped by the Atlanta Falcons after being accused of grooming and assaulting a young male relative
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.
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