USC’s Iacenda Indicted on Rape Count

Ted Iacenda, a redshirt freshman football player at USC, has been indicted by a Las Vegas grand jury on one count of rape, Clark County Dist. Atty. Teresa Lowry said Wednesday.

Iacenda, 18, will be arraigned next Wednesday in Clark County District Court. He is accused of having intercourse with a 17-year-old girl against her will in a Las Vegas hotel July 7.

If convicted, Iacenda faces a 10-year prison sentence before he would be eligible for parole. The indictment was delivered Nov. 22.

Iacenda, a two-time Southern Section Division II player of the year as a running back for Newhall Hart High, has not played for USC since the Sept. 26 allegations against him were made public in early October. He is free on his own recognizance.

His attorney, Tom Pitaro, said Iacenda is innocent. “I think that everyone involved would have been better off if we took this into justice court,” Pitaro said Wednesday. “We would have come a lot closer to the truth.”

The grand jury hearing allowed Lowry to present probable-cause evidence in a closed courtroom. She also said the grand-jury process is faster than the criminal courts.

It also prevented Pitaro from conducting cross-examination until a trial.