OTTUMWA — Charles Peden, the man authorities say sexually assaulted an Indian Hills student last year, has reached a deal to settle the case against him.

Peden, 19, was a basketball player for Wilbur Wright College, a community college in Chicago, when he traveled with the team for a tournament in Ottumwa last December. There he met a female IHCC student who later went with friends to Peden’s hotel.

Authorities said Peden sexually assaulted the student after she passed out from drinking too much alcohol. She filed a police report, and DNA testing led authorities to Peden.

That DNA evidence also led to Peden’s plea bargain.

“Ultimately, the evidence didn’t pan out the way we were hoping it would,” said Wapello County Attorney Allen Cook.

While the DNA was enough for authorities to substantiate the charge, Cook said the state’s expert could not say with certainty that it was Peden who assaulted the student. Without such testimony, Cook felt the evidence left too much room for a jury to question the case.

“I don’t believe that we could have proven the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” he said.

There were other issues surrounding the case. According to Cook, several of the Chicago residents prosecutors wanted to question in regard to the case refused to respond to subpoenas. But the lack of conclusive DNA evidence was the critical element in the decision to plead out the case.

Attorneys in the case contacted the judge late Monday, less than a day before Peden’s trial was to begin, to inform him of the plea bargain. The deal drops the charge against Peden from a Class C felony down to assault with intent to commit serious injury, an aggravated misdemeanor.

The difference between the two charges is stark. Class C felonies carry up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $10,000. An aggravated misdemeanor carries up to two years in prison and fines of no more than $5,000.

The difference in this case is actually bigger than just those numbers. Iowa changed its laws on sexual assault in 2005, mirroring the national trend toward tougher sentences. A conviction on the original charge would have required Peden to spend the rest of his life on parole.

Peden will probably not make another appearance in court. Cook said the defense will file a written plea, and the sentence will most likely also be handled by paperwork alone.

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