CINCINNATI -- Former Bengals linebacker Nate Webster was convicted Wednesday of sex-related charges involving the teenage daughter of a former assistant coach of the Cincinnati team.
Webster, 34, was taken into custody after a Cincinnati jury found him guilty of four counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. Jurors found him not guilty of three other charges: gross sexual imposition, sexual battery and a fifth count of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. The jury deliberated for about six hours before reaching the verdict.
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"We obviously are disappointed with the verdict in some respects," Webster's attorney, Gregory Samms said after the trial. He said they plan to file an appeal after sentencing, but could not comment on specific issues being considered for the appeal.
Prosecutors say Webster had sexual contact with the girl in 2009, when she was 15, and that he threatened to harm her if she told anyone. Webster admits having sex with the girl the next year, when she was 16 -- the legal age of consent in Ohio -- but denies that the sexual relations began earlier than that.
Samms said that the girl lied when she said she was 15 at the time she and Webster began having sex. Prosecutors said Webster told police that he had sex with the girl when she was 15 and played tapes of those interviews in court, but Samms said Webster was mistaken about the dates in his earlier statements.
According to the prosecutor's office, Webster could have faced just over 36 years in prison if he had been convicted on all counts -- as it stands, he could be looking at 20 years. He turned down a proposed plea deal prior to the trial that would have required him to serve four years in prison.
Assistant Hamilton County Prosecutor Seth Tieger declined to comment on the verdict or other aspects of the case prior to sentencing, scheduled for June 6.
Webster played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2000-03 and for the Bengals in 2004-05. He finished his career with the Denver Broncos from 2006-08.