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SALT LAKE CITY — A University of Utah football player was arrested on allegations of kidnapping and rape, according to Salt Lake City police.
Terrell Perriman, 20, was arrested Thursday morning for investigation of kidnapping, rape, enticing a minor by text or internet, and dealing with materials harmful to a minor, according to court documents.
On Jan. 24, a 17-year-old girl told police she met Perriman on Instagram and exchanged texts through Snapchat, according to court documents. The girl told police Perriman pressured her “multiple times” to send nude photos to him, and that she received several “sexually graphic” videos and pictures from Perriman.
The girl later met Perriman at his apartment where he allegedly took her to his bedroom and refused to let her leave, court documents say. The 17-year-old asked Perriman if she could leave, but he refused multiple times. Perriman then pushed the girl down and told her she could leave if she performed a sex act on him.
She told police that she saw a Taser and was “afraid he would use it on her,” according to documents. The girl tried to leave again and he “caught her attempting to leave” and then “physically forced her back into the room,” where he took her cellphone, documents say.
Perriman then allegedly attempted to pull her shorts down, but she resisted and told him she didn’t want to lose her virginity to him and that she was only 17-years-old, the documents say. But Perriman managed to get her shorts down and raped the girl while putting his hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming, according to court documents.
Salt Lake police detective Greg Wilking said they don’t know how the girl eventually got away, but they are still investigating the incident. Police arrested Perriman Thursday after a “lengthy investigation” and “without incident,” Wilking added.
Wilking said there were “some indications that there might be other victims,” and that in these types of cases “there’s not just one victim; this is behavior that is repeated.” However, Wilking was not certain about whether there were other victims.
“We're always concerned about victims and you want to get in touch with those people and offer them resources and let them know that they're not alone in this situation,” Wilking added. “We have detectives that are trained in sexual assaults and will believe their stories and will help them through this trauma because this is a traumatic event for victims.”
Utah football head coach Kyle Whittingham called the allegations “very serious” in a statement and said Perriman is “immediately suspended from all team activities."
“Obviously, this does not reflect the values and standards of our program and we will continue to monitor the situation as it moves through the legal process,” Whittingham added. “We are cooperating with the authorities and university personnel and will continue to assist as requested. Due to the ongoing legal proceedings, we are unable to comment further at this time.”
Perriman joined Utah in 2018 from Miami, Florida, and redshirt his freshman season with the program. He played in 10 games in the 2019 season as a wide receiver in limited action.
