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2 former Penn State football players facing felony charges, court docket documents show

Greg Pickelby:Greg Pickelabout 8 hours

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Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Two former Penn State football players are facing criminal charges related to an alleged incident that took place in State College last July. According to online court documents, former sophomore defensive end Jameial Lyons will be charged with multiple felonies, as will redshirt freshman linebacker Kaveion Keys. The dockets list Lyons as being charged with rape, aggravated indecent assault without consent, indecent assault, voluntary deviant sexual intercourse, and invasion of privacy. Keys’ docket sheet lists charges of rape, sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, and indecent assault. 

The Centre Daily Times first reported that the docket sheets were online, indicating that the charges would be forthcoming. Lyons and Keys will be arraigned on Oct 23, the docket says. Each has a preliminary hearing set for the morning of Oct. 30, as well. 

“No defense lawyers were listed on the dockets sheets, which are summaries of court case proceedings and filings,” Bret Pallotta writes for the CDT. “Affidavits of probable cause — documents that detail police investigations and evidence prosecutors have gathered — were not immediately released. The suspects are to be arraigned Wednesday by District Judge Don Hahn. His office said Tuesday the affidavits would be released after Keys and Lyons are arraigned.”

A Penn State Athletics spokesperson said both players were on an “interim suspension” on July 31. The school then said on Aug. 3 that neither was still enrolled at the university. It has not offered any public comments about Lyons or Keys since. 

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Lyons, a Philadelphia native who played his prep seasons at Roman Catholic, played in eight games as a true freshman in 2023. Thus, he used his first season of eligibility. He recorded six tackles (2.5 for loss) and a sack. In 2024, he was on track to see an increased role as part of the rotation employed by defensive line coach Deion Barnes. Keys, a Richmond, Va., native who played at Varina High, saw no game action last fall. But, he was the coaching staff’s developmental defense and special teams co-player of the year in 2023. He was tracking to likely have a special teams role, at minimum, in 2024 if not a spot in the team’s linebacker rotation. 

Penn State returns to action this Saturday at Wisconsin. It then hosts Ohio State when it returns to Beaver Stadium for the first time in November. The team is currently 6-0. It is No. 3 in both The Associated Press top 25 and the USA Today Coaches Poll.

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