GSC student charged with kidnapping, sex assault

     A Virginia man is accused of attempting to rape a Glenville State College co-ed in her dorm room during final examinations last week.

     Campus police on Thursday, Dec. 13 arrested, and charged Rodney Lionel Smith,Jr. for attempting to sexually assault a fellow GSC student. The charges stem from an incident the day before when police say Smith, 19, of Manassas, Va., invited himself in the dorm room of Traci Kelly, and Kayla Jarvis where he then, despite being repeatedly rebuffed, attempted to have sex with Kelly.

      According to the criminal complaint filed by GSC Public Safety Officer Samuel W. Cutlip, Smith at an unspecified time on Wednesday, Dec. 12 knocked on Kelly and Jarvis’ dorm room door. The complaint does not specify if they were residing in Pickens or Goodwin halls or Pioneer Village.

     Nevertheless, at the time, Kelly and Jarvis were “getting ready for finals and watching movies.” When Smith said he wanted to watch movies with them, Kelly said it was okay to let him come in.

     According to the complaint, Smith shortly thereafter put his arm around Kelly, and asked her if she had a boyfriend. Despite Kelly telling him she did, and was “very happy,” Smith then asked her if she wanted to have sex.

     Though she told him no, Smith began touching Kelly’s breast. At that point, the complaint says Jarvis determined things “were getting out of hand, and went to get help.”

     Sometime after Jarvis left, Kelly alleges Smith asked her to perform oral sex on him. After telling him no, and moving into the shower, the complaint states Smith “pinned her against the wall.”

     In the course of pinning her against the wall, Smith unzipped his pants, and exposed his penis. After breaking free from his grasp, Kelly says Smith “got between her and the door so she couldn’t leave.”

     Next, Smith began pulling Kelly’s pants while she “went to the closet to get her clothes.” Just as Smith was about to force himself on Kelly, the complaint says Jarvis “came in the room with some help.”

     The complaint is unclear who arrived back in the dorm room with Jarvis to help Kelly thwart Smith’s attack. Nevertheless, it resulted in him “le[aving] the room.”

     Following his arrest, records show Smith was charged in Gilmer Magistrate Court on one count each of kidnapping, and attempted sexual assault in the second degree. After he was taken to the Central Regional Jail in Sutton, Smith was released on $50,000 bond.

     A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 28 at 1:30 p.m. During his arraignment, Smith requested a court-appointed attorney.

     The case is assigned to Magistrate Carol Wolfe.

      Gilmer Magistrate Court, case numbers 12-F-175-176

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CLARKSBURG - A former Glenville State College student is alleging campus police failed to properly investigate her claim she was raped two years ago following an improptu party in her dormitory.

The College, and Daniel Bell, chief of its public safety department, are named as co-defendants in a civil rights suit filed by Amanda Smith.  In her complaint filed Sept. 17 in U.S. District Court, Smith, 21, of Mineral Wells, says campus police not only failed to conduct the most routine of investigation into her allegation she was sexually assaulted by a fellow student in 2010, but also lost important evidence.

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Photo:  State and Glenville State officials dedicate Goodwin Hall as GSC's newest dormitory on Aug. 19, 2010.  In her lawsuit filed Monday, fromer student Amanda Smith alleges she was raped there less than a month later, and campus police failed in their duty to conduct a proper investigation.

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Kanawha Circuit Judge Carrie Webster has set Aug. 20 as the trial date in the case of Dale J. Norman v. Glenville State College, et. al. In his suit filed Oct. 4, 2010, Norman, 53, a Glenville resident, alleges he sustained third-degree burns to his feet when he attempted to take a bath two years earlier at the Conrad Motel.

According to the College's Web site, the Glenville State College Housing Corporation, a non-profit arm of the College that aids in helping it acquire and construct property, purchased the 42-room building on July 1, 2008, from Susie Kidd Shipe, and her uncle, Jack Conrad, whose family first started a restaurant in 1926, and expanded their business into the motel three years later. According to the Gilmer County Assessor's Office, GSCHC purchased the motel for $500,000.

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Picture: This motel in downtown Glenville is where Dale Norman alleges he suffered third degree burns when taking a bath during an overnight stay in Oct. 2008. A lawsuit he has against the motel's owners, Glenville State College and the Glenville State College Housing Corporation, is scheduled for August.

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