Darren Sanders charged in sex crime

— -- The Baltimore Ravens' senior director of security was charged Tuesday night with a fourth-degree sex offense, the (Baltimore) Sun reported, citing court documents.

The Sun reported that the complaint was lodged against Darren Sanders on December 14. Further details of the allegations against Sanders were not provided, and his attorney and a spokesperson for the Ravens did not return calls to the newspaper.

The offense is a misdemeanor and punishable by a maximum $1,000 fine and/or a year in jail. Sanders is scheduled for a February 9 court date.

Earlier this year, Sanders became  swept up in the controversy over whether or not the Ravens were able to obtain security camera footage showing Ray Rice punching his then-fiancee, Janay Palmer, in an elevator at a New Jersey casino. Sanders said he had asked Atlantic City, N.J., police and the Revel Casino Hotel for surveillance video -- shot from inside the elevator where Rice's punch knocked Palmer unconscious -- but the officer instead described in detail to Sanders what he was seeing.

Sanders then relayed the damning video's play-by-play to team executives in Baltimore, unknowingly starting a seven-month odyssey that blew up into one of the NFL's biggest crises in its 94-year history. Whether Sanders spoke directly with Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti or someone else who relayed the information he had obtained on Feb. 15 remains unclear.

Rice was later let go by the Ravens and suspended indefinitely by the NFL after the video was released showing the running back striking Palmer.