Wednesday, December 19, 2012

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

No comments:

Post a Comment