Ex-USD football player accused of rape gets plea deal

VERMILLION, S.D. (AP) — A former University of South Dakota football player from Texas who was accused of raping a woman in a dorm room has pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of aggravated assault and been sentenced to 10 years of probation.

Twenty-three-year-old Dale Williamson Jr., of Texarkana, Texas, entered the plea Monday. A no contest plea isn’t an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing. The Argus Leader reports he also must pay nearly $1,400 in restitution to the victim.

Prosecutor Alexis Tracy told the court that the March 2017 attack has changed the victim “forever.”

Williamson was charged in the attack in November 2017, shortly after he and another USD football player were charged in a separate attempted rape case.

A jury last August found Williamson not guilty in that case. Fellow player Danny Rambo pleaded guilty in March 2018 to a misdemeanor and was sentenced to 10 days in jail.