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Nash accused of rape, theft

Rays prospect faces life in prison if convicted of raping 15-year-old in Louisiana.

By KEVIN KELLY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 24, 2002

ST. PETERSBURG -- Greg "Toe" Nash is in trouble with the law again, but this time it could keep the Rays' prospect off the field for life.

The 19-year-old was arrested early Tuesday morning in Sorrento, La., and charged with aggravated rape, aggravated crime against nature and felony theft.

Ascension Parish Chief Deputy Tony Bacala said Wednesday that Nash, who signed with Tampa Bay in 2000 and made his professional debut last year, was being held on $300,000 bail and faces up to life in prison if convicted on the aggravated rape charge.

"We're not pleased to be reading anything regarding non-baseball issues involving Toe Nash," said Dan Jennings, Rays director of scouting. "We're in the business of developing baseball players, and until we have more details it's best not to comment about some things that are unknown to us."

Bacala said Nash and two friends stole money, a fire safe, an alarm clock and a pistol from a house in Donaldsonville, La., on Monday. Some of the stolen property was found that day at a house in St. Amant, La.

When detectives went to investigate, a 15-year-old girl told them Nash and two friends brought the stolen property to the residence. The girl then told detectives she invited Nash to come over while her mother was working.

"He brought two friends with him," Bacala said. "They were drinking in the house and at some point during the night, she had to go to the bathroom.

"So she went to the bathroom, locked the door. He came to the door of the bathroom and solicited her for sex outside the door. It was indicated to us that she said no, and then he broke the lock on the door and went in. One of his friends held her down while he had intercourse with her. Then when he got finished, he held her down while the friend had intercourse with her. That's how it was reported to us."

The Rays signed Nash after discovering him in the sugarcane fields of Louisiana, and he quickly gained national attention. With Princeton of the Appalachian League last season, he hit .240 with eight homers and 29 RBIs.

Nash had been arrested five times when the Ascension Parish District Attorney's office allowed him to enter a pretrial intervention program on a robbery charge last February. All other charges were dropped.

Nash's agent, Larry Reynolds, said he was aware his client was in jail and was going to talk to some people about the situation today.

"If this has happened," Jennings said, "then it's a situation where the judicial process will certainly have to run its course."

-- Times staff writer Marc Topkin contributed to this report.

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