Ernie Carletti on Ice?

Former ICED EARTH guitarist ERNIE CARLETTI has been convicted for kidnapping and raping a University of Delaware student in 2003. The 32-year-old rocker was found guilty on two counts of first degree rape and one count of first-degree kidnapping in court on Monday (19Nov07).

Carletti reportedly admitted to abducting the student, and tying her up at his Maryland home, but he insisted he did not rape the unnamed woman. He also denied he used a gun in the kidnapping. After handcuffing her, Carletti said he shackled her legs and put duct tape over her eyes and then drove to his home. He maintained the woman was a willing abductee, but prosecutor Donald R. Roberts told the court the rocker tied a blindfold so tight around the woman's face, he burst one of her eye vessels, and she almost passed out, according to Blabbermouth.net.

Upon arriving at his home, Carletti said he gagged his captive's mouth, placed her on a table and tied her up. He later cut the woman loose when he realised she was uncomfortable and then returned her to where he had picked her up. Carletti became a suspect in May 2006 and was arrested after police matched his fingerprints to a print found on the duct tape that had been placed over one of the victim's eyes. The rocker was charged earlier this year (07) in another sexual assault that occurred when he was in high school.

According to court documents in that pending case, Carletti allegedly tied a school friend to a chair, locked her in his bedroom closet and then raped her.

(www.wenn.com)