Lawyer for ex-Falcons LB Barkevious Mingo says indecent contact allegation is 'a lie'
A lawyer for former Atlanta Falcons linebacker Barkevious Mingo released a statement Monday about his client's recent arrest in Texas. Mingo was arrested on Saturday for alleged "indecency with a child," and the Falcons terminated his contract hours later.
Chris Lewis, one of Mingo's attorneys, told ESPN:
Chris Lewis, the lead counsel for former Falcons’ LB Barkevious Mingo, called the accusation of indecency against his client, “a lie.”
Here is Lewis’ statement to ESPN: pic.twitter.com/GuuA0XiuoN— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 12, 2021
"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. The accusation against Mr. Mingo is a lie. Barkevious knows it – so does his accuser.
"Mr. Mingo appreciates that law enforcement officers have a tough job to do, and he is fully committed to cooperating with the authorities to clear his name. As soon as Barkevious became aware of the arrest warrant, he immediately travelled to Texas to turn himself in and answer to the charge. Now, he is ready to prove his innocence.
"Mr. Mingo understands the seriousness of an accusation like this and the immediate negative impact it can have on a person's reputation, even when there is zero evidence. But, he also knows that he will be fully vindicated when the truth comes to light. When that happens, the true motivation of the accuser will be clear and unambiguous."
After turning himself in to Arlington Police, Mingo was released on $25,000 bail.
Details of accusations against Barkevious Mingo
Warning: The following section contains alleged details of a sexual assault.
The alleged incident that led to Mingo's arrest, detailed in documents obtained by Sports Illustrated, happened in 2019.
According to Sports Illustrated, Mingo allegedly invited two teenage boys — a family member and his friend — to spend the day with him during July 4th weekend. The documents describe a full day of activities, including alleged trips to an amusement park, a go-kart complex and dinner at a Dallas-area steakhouse. Mingo allegedly footed the bill for everything, including a shopping spree on Nike.com.
The three then allegedly returned to Mingo's hotel room, where the two boys were supposed to sleep in a room separate from Mingo. The friend of Mingo's family member told police he "thought it was odd" when he woke up and allegedly found Mingo in bed with him, but didn't think much of it and went back to sleep.
Via Sports Illustrated, here is what the friend told police about what allegedly happened next:
“The victim was then woken by [Mingo] pulling at his underwear. This occurred for a few minutes until the suspect got more and 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 boy's mother filed a complaint with the police in January 2021. According to Sports Illustrated, the case was assigned a detective and a warrant was obtained to search Nike's online purchase records.
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