Bradley Faces Rape Trial in Arkansas : Jurisprudence: Former record-setting running back at Moorpark College accused by 13-year-old girl.

Running back Freddie Bradley, who broke O.J. Simpson’s national junior college scoring records during two sensational seasons at Moorpark College, faces an Aug. 12 trial in Fayetteville, Ark., on a charge of raping a 13-year-old girl.

Bradley, who faces as many as 40 years in prison if convicted, has been dismissed from the Arkansas football team after playing one season for the Razorbacks.

Bradley, 21, returned to the Oxnard area after his May 1 arraignment in Washington County Superior Court in Fayetteville. He could not be reached for comment. He reportedly is living with his wife in an apartment without a telephone.

Prosecutor Andrew Ziser said Bradley pleaded not guilty at his arraignment and was released on $25,000 bond. A conviction under Arkansas law brings a penalty of either 10 to 40 years, or life imprisonment, according to Ziser.

He said the term of 10 to 40 years is the more likely of the two sentences, if Bradley were convicted. The same jury that will be asked to bring a verdict also will hand out the sentence.

Bradley was arrested April 23 along with Arkansas teammate Derrick Martin after the 13-year-old girl told police the two men had raped her in Martin’s room in the school’s athletic dormitory. Bradley, because he is married, was allowed to live off campus.

Martin, of Fayetteville, is charged with rape and sexual abuse.

Both players were immediately dismissed from the football team by Coach Jack Crowe and both left school.

“They were dismissed from the team when they were arrested,” said Arkansas sports information director Rick Schaeffer. “Officially, they were dismissed for violation of the team rule that prohibits them from having girls in the athletic dorm. But it was much more than that, obviously.”

Bradley’s attorney, John Everett of Fayetteville, asked to comment on the case, said only that the act involving Bradley and the girl was one of consent.

“This was not forcible rape,” Everett said. “There’s a critical difference.”

According to Ziser, there is no difference under Arkansas law.

“He is charged with a count of rape of a girl under the age of 14,” the prosecutor said. “Under that statute, the law doesn’t make any distinction between consensual and non-consensual. This was a 13-year-old girl.”

Since his return to California, Bradley has been, according to one of his former coaches, seeking a college transfer. He reportedly told friends that he left Arkansas because he was frustrated over a lack of playing time during the past season.

Sidelined much of the season with a foot injury, Bradley played sparingly for the Razorbacks, rushing for 197 yards in 49 carries.

His former coach at Moorpark, Jim Bittner, had steered Bradley toward Sonoma State and Whittier College, where his son Jim Bittner Jr. coaches the running backs.

“I think he’s a little homesick,” Bittner last week told the Thousand Oaks News Chronicle, explaining Bradley’s return to California.

Also mentioned as a possible new home for Bradley was Cal Lutheran. Kingsmen Coach Joe Harper said last week that he would be glad to have the talented player.

“We’d always be interested in a player of Freddie’s caliber,” Harper told that newspaper.

Harper, contacted Tuesday, said he knew nothing of Bradley’s arrest.

“That’s quite a surprise,” Harper said. “We likely wouldn’t be interested (in Bradley) under those conditions. . . . This would make things entirely different.”

Bittner, also contacted Tuesday, said Bradley had told him he had been arrested but that the rape charge against him had been dropped.

“A friend of mine is a detective around here and had heard something a while back,” Bittner said. “So when Freddie came back, I specifically asked him about it and he said all the charges against him had been dropped. He said he had to go back to Arkansas in August to testify at his friend’s trial, that’s all.

“What a shock. I felt like what he had told me was the truth. I thought it was all cleared up. My understanding of the situation was entirely different than this.”

Bradley (6-foot-1, 205 pounds) broke Simpson’s national junior college records for scoring, touchdowns and all-purpose running during the 1989 and 1990 seasons. He holds Moorpark records for all-purpose yardage in a season (2,428 yards) and in a career (4,123).

Bradley’s mother died when he was an infant. In a 1989 interview with The Times, the Arkansas native said he seldom saw his father and lived most of his life with his sister.

When she decided to leave Oxnard and return to their hometown of Helena, Ark., in 1987, Bradley moved in with Hueneme High football coach George Machado and his family. Bradley was an All-Ventura County selection at Hueneme, rushing for 1,067 yards in 1989.

Machado was unavailable for comment Tuesday.