Roger Lewis: Former Ohio State Recruit Charged with Rape

The grand hype and hoopla of National Signing Day will have to take a breather as news is breaking that former Ohio State recruit Roger Lewis has been arrested on rape charges. 

Mary Beth Lane of The Columbus Dispatch reports that Lewis has been arrested and charged with two counts of rape. Each charge, as Taylor notes, is a first-degree felony and punishable by up to 11 years in prison on each count. Lewis is currently being held on $250,000 bond. 

The Pickerington (Ohio) Central High School wide receiver is listed as the 20th-ranked recruit by Rivals, with a 4-star rating.

This past weekend, news broke that Lewis wouldn’t be a part of the Buckeyes’ 2012 recruiting class due to pre-enrollment test scores. It now seems that Lewis has far bigger issues ahead of him. 

According to the Columbus Dispatch, Pickerington police arrested Roger Lewis Jr. at about 1 p.m. local time and Lewis went without incident. 

The arrest stems from an incident with a female on Jan. 6 and another that happened in December. The report issues that arrests were done after a month of investigation on the part of Pickerington police officials. 

After the weekend fallout with OSU, Lewis was said to be considering Ohio University, Marshall and Bowling Green for his college playing days. 

There is no question that those plans will now be put on hold for some time as he battles these serious charges. 

NBC Sports' John Taylor does well to remind us of issues facing another Ohio State recruit from last year. As many of you will recall, offensive lineman Chris Carter was arrested for allegedly fondling up to eight girls. 

Those charges were later dropped, and he signed a letter of intent with the Buckeyes later that February. 

Lewis will now see his dreams of playing football in college greatly damaged, if not erased from the picture altogether. 

Follow @gabezal