Former USU football player pleads ‘not guilty’ to allegedly raping female student in campus dorm

LOGAN — A 22-year-old former Utah State football player is being bound over on charges of allegedly entering several on-campus dorm rooms and raping a female student last spring. Ismael “Izzy” Kalani Vaifo’ou was arrested in April and later granted release while the case against him proceeds through the court system.

Court staff reports, Vaifo’ou was in 1st District Court Tuesday morning for a preliminary hearing. He was previously charged with rape, a first-degree felony; three counts of forcible sex abuse and one count of burglary, all second-degree felonies; and three misdemeanors.

Vaifo’ou waived his rights to the hearing, where a judge would have determined whether or not prosecutors had sufficient evidence in the case. He also pleaded “not guilty” to the charges as his attorney explained they were working on a possible plea deal with prosecutors.

According to an arrest report, USU police officers were called to the Living Learning Center dorms on report that Vaifo’ou had entered several rooms on several different floors, early on the morning of April 18. He was a resident in the dormitory and reportedly intoxicated.

One woman told officers she was woken up by the sounds of doors opening and closing. Vaifo’ou then allegedly entered her room and started walking toward her bed, before she told him to leave.

The report stated a second woman also claimed she woke up and found Vaifo’ou “laying in her bed next to her in only his underwear.” He reportedly was raping her until she pushed him and told him to get out.

Other residents told police they witnessed Vaifo’ou entering two other rooms temporarily. They also claimed they could detect an odor of alcohol coming from the suspect.

Police questioned Vaifo’ou and advised him of his rights. He admitted to entering the women’s apartment, stating he had taken off his clothes and got into bed with one of the alleged victims. He also confessed to touching the woman inappropriately over her clothing.

During Tuesday hearing, Judge Angela Fonnesbeck accepted the waiver and ordered Vaifo’ou to appear again in court Nov. 30.

Vaifo’ou, who has been released from the football team, didn’t speak during Tuesday’s hearing. He is currently out of jail on pretrial supervision and could face up to life in prison if convicted.

Individuals arrested and charged in complaints are presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.


[email protected]

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

I agree to these terms.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.