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BRIGHAM CITY — The sex was consensual or it didn't happen.
That was the testimony from former Utah State University linebacker Torrey Green, who took the stand Tuesday in his own defense. Green gave his own accounts of four out of six sexual assaults he is accused of carrying out during his time at the school.
"I wish I didn't break their hearts," Green said of the half-dozen accusers. "I could have done a better job of telling them and letting them know I didn't want to be in a lasting relationship. I'm sorry for that."
Prosecutors have focused in on the similarities between the cases, saying he charmed and disarmed the women before attacking them at separate points from 2013 to 2015. Green testified to his own charisma twice on Tuesday, saying, "I'm very charming."
But his attorneys have said the women are seeking attention and emphasize that the allegations became public just as his career was taking off.
He was shocked, he said, when a detective first told him of one allegation in 2015 and again when a news reporter called him the following year.
"Where is this coming from right when I signed a contract?" he recalled thinking.
Green, 25, of Rubidoux, California, was signed as a rookie lineman for the Atlanta Falcons following his successful time playing for USU, but was dropped in 2016 amid the allegations. He is being held without bail in the Cache County Jail.
The moments he described leading up to the sexual encounters largely mirrored testimony of the alleged victims. He cooked chicken for one woman, M.H., before they went to his room to watch a movie, he recalled, but said she removed her own shirt before they gave each other massages before having sex.
Rape trial: Prosecutors describe ex-football star Torrey Green as predator
Prosecutors began laying out their case Monday against a former Utah State University football star accused of raping six women during his time at the school.Green's version of events conflicts with the woman's testimony last week that he had lifted up her shirt as she tried to stop him and told him no. Green on Tuesday testified that the woman, M.H., hadn't said no or pushed him away and appeared to enjoy the encounter.
He told a jury in Brigham City's 1st District Court that he met the woman and several others on the app Tinder, and said he isn't proud of how many women he became intimate with in college.
"It’s not a good look being a player or a lady’s man, sleeping around,” he said.
Green also testified that he never had sex with C.D., another student he met on campus, because he was being treated for chlamydia. Both Green and the woman told jurors they weren't planning on hanging out for long because she had homework to do, but she testified that he raped her and told her, "I know you like it."
He told jurors he had sex with another alleged victim, but Green contended he stopped when she seemed hesitant, telling her, "I don't want to pressure you." Another woman who reported that he had assaulted her by grinding his body against hers received only a kiss on the cheek from him, Green said, and they sat close together before he fell asleep.
Green is on trial for counts of rape, two counts of object rape and one count of aggravated kidnapping, all first-degree felonies; and two counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony.
A judge combined the six cases into one trial last year, citing their similarities. One other allegation of sexual assault remains separate; a trial date has not yet been set.
