AMES, Iowa — An Iowa State football player faces up to 12 years in prison for physically and sexually assaulting his girlfriend in December, according to charges filed Wednesday in Story County Court.
Aidan Ralph, 20, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound linebacker from Chicago, is accused of shoving his girlfriend of three years into stairs, causing a stress fracture to her spine. He then allegedly sexually assaulted her. Ralph is charged with third-degree sexual assault, which is a class C felony in Iowa and carries a 10-year prison term, and domestic abuse assault causing injury, a serious misdemeanor.
Advertisement
Iowa State dismissed Ralph from the team Thursday afternoon. Ralph initially was held in the Story County Jail on an $11,000 cash-only bond, which he posted on Wednesday.
A non-contact order was initiated after the alleged assault. It was not immediately clear if Ralph had a lawyer who could comment on his behalf. According to the Associated Press, calls on Thursday to the Iowa public defender’s office in Story County were automatically disconnected.
According to the criminal complaint, Ralph’s accuser went to his Ames, Iowa, residence at about 1:30 a.m. on Dec. 3 at his request. An argument ensued, and Ralph allegedly became physical and injured his accuser. She requested Ralph contact emergency medical services, to which he refused.
Inside Ralph’s residence, the woman said she removed her pants to examine the injury and relieve some of her pain. At that time, she said Ralph initiated unwanted intercourse with the woman. Police described the accuser as having visible swelling on her back because of the assault, and Ralph admitted to shoving her into the stairs, according to the criminal complaint.
Ralph was entering his third season at Iowa State but had not played. He graduated from Chicago’s De La Salle High School.
(Photo: Michael C. Johnson / USA Today)
ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57k21vcm1nZ3xzfJFsZmltX2WBcK3InZinZaKWubG0jJyfmqqXmrFw