Springfield, Missouri police have completed their initial investigation of Bradley senior men’s basketball player Elijah Childs relating to an alleged sex offense that took place on Feb. 13. It is up to the Greene County prosecutor’s office to decide whether he will face criminal charges, according to a report by the Springfield News-Leader.
The prosecutor’s office told the News-Leader that the Springfield Police Department investigated Childs for “sodomy in the second degree,” and that the case would be reviewed to determine if there is enough evidence to charge Childs.
Second-degree sodomy is a class D felony, defined as having “deviate sexual intercourse” with someone without their consent. If Childs is charged, he could be sentenced up to seven years in prison.
The prosecutor’s office has not provided a timeline as to when a decision could be made on any possible charges for Childs.
Shortly before Bradley was set to play Missouri State on Feb. 13, the team announced that Childs and three others were suspended “due to violations of team standards.” It was later reported by the News-Leader that the four were named in a police report.
Junior Ja’Shon Henry was cleared from the investigation and suspension shortly after, while senior Danya Kingsby and redshirt junior Terry Nolan remained suspended for the remainder of the season. Both have since been cleared from the investigation, and prosecutors are not considering charges against any of the three players.
According to a statement by Bradley Athletics, as of March 11, the internal investigation to determine “if a student code of conduct violation or men’s basketball program violation occurred is on-going.”
Since the end of the season, Nolan and Kingsby have left the Bradley basketball program via transfer, with Kingsby committing to Grambling State University and Nolan to Towson University.
