Suspended USC Linebacker Osa Masina Charged With Rape, Forcible Sodomy In Utah
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Suspended USC reserve linebacker Osa Masina, who is under investigation for an alleged sexual assault in Los Angeles, was charged with rape Thursday in Utah.
Masina, 19, has not played in either of the Trojans' games this year, and on Tuesday he and fellow linebacker Don Hill, 20, were both suspended from all team activities.
Hill and Masina are suspected of raping a 19-year-old classmate at Hill's off-campus apartment in July, according to a search warrant affidavit obtained by various media outlets.
Masina was charged Thursday with rape and two counts of forcible sodomy in Utah, according to police in Cottonwood Heights. The charges involve the same woman who was allegedly assaulted in the Los Angeles case.
No charges have yet been filed against either player in L.A.
Masina's attorney, Greg Skordas, told ESPN that Masina planned to surrender to police in Salt Lake County Wednesday, and his bail has been set at $250,000. He said Masina was suspended from USC last Friday, ordered to vacate his campus residence and barred from entering campus. The attorney said Masina returned to his family's Salt Lake City home on Sunday.
Skordas told ESPN the charges against Masina carry a potential prison term of five years to life.
According to the affidavit in support of a search warrant served in L.A., the alleged victim contends that Masina gave her two Xanax pills in early July and it made her feel like she "wasn't in control of what was happening."
The woman said after taking the pills, drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana, she realized she was naked at Hill's apartment and Masina and Hill were performing sex acts on her.
The victim also alleged Masina recorded the sexual acts and sent images and video to her ex-boyfriend, according to the affidavit.
A July 29 report from the Cottonwood Heights Police Department in Utah attached to the LAPD search warrant revealed the same woman accused Masina of raping her at a July 26 house party where she drank alcohol and consumed cookies laced with marijuana.
Masina was a backup inside linebacker as a freshman in 2015, making 25 tackles in 12 games. He picked up an errant lateral and ran 46 yards for a touchdown in the season opener against Arkansas State.
He missed 2016 spring practice because of a team rules violation.
(©2016 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
