Atlanta Falcons terminate player’s contract after child sex crime arrest in Arlington
The Atlanta Falcons have terminated the contract of a player suspected of a child sex crime, the team said in a news release Sunday.
Barkevious Mingo, 30, who lives in Louisiana, was arrested on suspicion of a child sex crime that occurred in Arlington, police said Saturday.
Mingo was booked on one count of indecency with a child – sexual contact. He had not been charged as of Sunday morning, according to Tarrant County District Court records.
The Arlington Police Department declined to release the date on which the alleged crime occurred or other information about the case. “The incident stems from an investigation that the department is conducting,” a police spokesman said.
Arlington police arrested Mingo when he turned himself in Thursday night, in consultation with his attorney. Mingo’s $25,000 bond was posted, and he was released from custody.
Mingo’s attorney, Lukas Garcia, told Star-Telegram media partner WFAA-TV that the allegations against his client are “completely baseless.”
“Barkevious Mingo is innocent,” Garcia told WFAA. “At this stage, our side has very limited information. What we do know is these allegations are from over two years ago and are completely untrue. Mr. Mingo is the victim of a false claim, and we believe this is motivated by money or some other ulterior motive. We are confident when the truth comes to light, my client will be fully exonerated.”
The Falcons said in the release Sunday that Mingo’s contract was terminated after the team became aware of the allegations against him.
“Our organization became aware of the allegations involving Barkevious Mingo [on Saturday] and are currently gathering information on this incident,” the Atlanta Falcons wrote in a statement to Profootballtalk.com. “The Falcons take the allegations very seriously and will continue to monitor the situation.”
An outside linebacker, Mingo signed a one-year, $1.25 million contract with the Falcons in March. He was a 2013 first-round pick by the Cleveland Browns out of LSU.
This story was originally published July 11, 2021 at 1:01 PM.