The Clinton County Prosecutor’s Office will not pursue charges against Michigan State offensive lineman Nick Sharpe following an investigation into an alleged sexual assault that occurred in July at his East Lansing apartment. The decision, made on Oct. 7, closes out an 11-week inquiry by Bath Township police into claims made by a woman who had flown to Michigan from Dallas, Texas to see him.
According to a supplemental police report obtained by The Detroit News, investigators spent weeks gathering interviews with both parties, DNA evidence, and a polygraph exam submitted by Sharpe and his attorney before the prosecutor’s office opted against filing charges. Sharpe, 23 and a native of North Carolina, was a starting offensive guard for the Spartans throughout the process, having started all six of Michigan State’s games this season and logging 205 offensive snaps — sixth-most on the team, per the same report.
The woman told police she flew into Detroit on July 17 and took an Uber to Sharpe’s East Lansing apartment, a ride he paid for, according to the police report cited by The Detroit News. She said she went to his room to watch a movie, after which the two began kissing. She alleged Sharpe rubbed her genitals, that she told him to stop and he did not, and that she then performed oral sex on him, which Sharpe recorded on his iPhone. Police later examined the phone and found nothing of evidentiary value, the report states.
Conflicting Accounts Over Several Months
The woman’s description of the encounter shifted across multiple statements to authorities. On July 20, she told a nurse at Methodist Dallas Medical Center that Sharpe was “really rough” and did not stop when she asked, according to the police report. The next day, in an interview with Bath Township police, she said she consented to the oral sex because she was nervous, the report notes. She also told police that Sharpe said he did not see the relationship as something he would pursue, and that she feared he would hurt her.
Then, in a Sept. 15 interview with police, the woman said the sexual contact with Sharpe was consensual, that he had not used force, and that she did not feel coerced — a direct shift from her earlier accounts, per the report obtained by the newspaper. Sharpe, for his part, maintained throughout that the encounter was consensual and that the woman had initiated it. He told police he asked her to leave afterward and that she seemed okay with it.
Polygraph and Attorney’s Statement
Sharpe sat for a polygraph exam at his attorney’s office on Sept. 1. Examiner Kenneth A. MacEachern reported that Sharpe’s answers did not indicate deception, according to the police report. Sharpe answered no when asked whether he had been asked to stop and no when asked whether he had physically forced the woman to perform a sexual act; he answered yes when asked whether she had initiated the sexual touching.
Sharpe’s attorney, Mike Nichols, said the accusations were bogus and intended to trap his client, and said he was disappointed the case was covered publicly, adding he hoped it would not damage Sharpe’s NFL draft stock, according to the police report. Nichols also said the charging decision had actually come weeks before it became public. The Detroit News reported it had contacted Nichols for updates on the case on Sept. 29 as part of its reporting.
How the Two Met and What Followed
The woman had followed Sharpe on TikTok before the two connected, and met him through Instagram, messaging him on July 13 and referencing having seen him at Club 24, according to the police report. Sharpe told police he had traveled to Miami to train with former teammates and said he was certain he had not met the woman during that trip. He told police he became suspicious of her story after she brought up an offensive lineman summit in Dallas at breakfast the morning after their encounter.
Sharpe’s mother, Nina Johnson, told police her son was surprised by the amount of luggage the woman brought, and Sharpe said he later blocked the woman on his mother’s advice. Two other men named in the police report, Robert Wright Jr. and Tyran Chappell, also factored into the investigation — Wright took screenshots of the woman’s Instagram stories for Sharpe, while Chappell provided the woman’s messages to police as evidence and said a phone conversation he had with her felt unusual, according to the report.
The woman confirmed to police that she posted Instagram stories referencing Sharpe in which she said she was in her feelings and in her head, attributing those posts to feeling she had been recorded and not accommodated. She also told police that an earlier claim she’d made about receiving a police escort to her airport gate was not true, per the report. Sharpe told police he purchased her return Uber ride to Detroit Metro Airport in Romulus after the encounter; the woman had separately gone to downtown Detroit following what she described as an alleged flight change.
Records Delay and Case Timeline
The Detroit News filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the supplemental police reports on Sept. 29, but Bath Township did not respond until Oct. 14 — and only after the newspaper sent a follow-up email, according to the paper’s own account of its reporting process. Earlier coverage from Yahoo Sports had described the matter as an active investigation with no charges filed at that time, reflecting the case’s status before the prosecutor’s Oct. 7 decision became public this week.
Michigan’s criminal sexual conduct statute, the one potentially at issue in cases like this, defines third-degree criminal sexual conduct as engaging in sexual penetration with another person when one of several listed circumstances exists, according to the Michigan Legislature. The full list of qualifying circumstances was not detailed in the available excerpt of the law.
