OTTUMWA — Charles Peden, the Chicago basketball player accused of sexually assaulting an Indian Hills Community College student in December, has entered a not guilty plea.

Peden was originally scheduled for arraignment Monday on one count of sexual abuse in the third degree. That didn’t happen. Iowa law allows defendants to enter a written arraignment instead of appearing physically in court.

That’s what Peden did. Defense attorneys often like that option because it allows them to carefully control how to enter a plea without risking any incidents. A written plea also makes sense in this case because Peden lives in the Chicago area, and a written plea allows him to avoid the trip to Ottumwa for a brief hearing.

Authorities say Peden sexually assaulted a female IHCC student at the Days Inn in Ottumwa during a basketball tournament last December. Court records say the student went to the hotel with several other IHCC students after meeting Peden and other Wilbur Wright College basketball players at a game.

The student reported the assault to police and DNA evidence brought them to Peden. Authorities have not charged any of the other players, though they have said they think it is possible others were involved.

The charge against Peden is a Class C felony. It carries up to 10 years in prison. But Sue Boggs, a Wapello County probation and parole officer, said the consequences for Peden could go way beyond a prison term.

“With this new sentencing, once that sentence is discharged the person is automatically placed on parole for the rest of their life,” Boggs said.

The 10-year prison sentence applies to sexual offenses if they are a Class C felony, but probation is very different from what people convicted of most Class C felonies face. Iowa law says a person convicted of a sexual offense at that level “shall also be sentenced ... to a special sentence committing the person into the custody of the director of the Iowa department of corrections for the rest of the person’s life,” under different parole conditions.

Parole violations under those rules can bring the offender back to prison years after a release. Judges can order prison terms of up to two years on the first revocation, and five years for any subsequent revocation.

The law is relatively new — it went into effect July 1, 2005 — and local courts have not run into probation revocation proceedings begun under the lifetime parole requirements. Boggs said it isn’t yet clear whether judges in the Eighth District, which includes Ottumwa, are inclined to impose the maximum revocation sentence.

“We haven’t even gotten to that point yet,” Boggs said.

The impacts on the state’s parole system are going to be significant. Boggs said there are 806 offenders currently under these rules statewide. Projections put that number at 3,201 by 2017.

The special sentences also apply to Class D felonies involving sexual misconduct, though the automatic parole is limited to 10 years in those cases.

Matt Milner can be reached at (641) 683-5359 or via e-mail at mwmilner@mchsi.com