A.J. Johnson, a former linebacker for the University of Tennessee (UT) Volunteers football team, has turned himself in to authorities on an aggravated rape charge.
According to WATE, Johnson, 23, appeared at the Knox County Detention Center Tuesday afternoon. The charge against him stems from an incident in Nov. in which a 19-year-old woman accused him and former Tennessee cornerback Michael Williams of forcibly raping her.
Indicted by a grand jury, Williams turned himself in last week and has since been released on bond. Johnson too is released on bond, which he posted less than an hour after turning himself in.
"Mr. Johnson has fully cooperated throughout this investigation, has maintained his innocence from the beginning, and looks forward to being cleared of these accusations so that he can begin to put his life back together," W. Thomas Dillard, an attorney representing Johnson, said in a statement.
David Eldridge, an attorney representing Williams, "is confident that when all the evidence is presented there, [Williams] will be exonerated," the Associated Press reported.
Another woman said Williams sexually assaulted her at the same apartment complex where the other accuser said both young men raped her. The former has decided against pressing charges since.
While both Johnson and Williams were dismissed from the Volunteers football team, the former completed his degree at UT. Johnson was even invited to participate at the NFL Scouting Combine coming up in Indianapolis, but the league has since rescinded.
Grand jury court records show Johnson and Williams' former Volunteers teammates, Drae Bowles and D'Andre Payne, were witnesses at the latter's hearing, the AP reported. Bowles and Payne have since transferred from UT.
