Trial date set in child sex assault case

A South Point man had his trial date set in a case involving sexual assault of a child.

Matthew J. Mullens, 23, of South Point was made his final offer on record in the court of Judge Charles Cooper on Wednesday, and had his trial date set for Jan. 26. Mullens had previously attempted to enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, but an evaluation by Emily Davis, Pys D, ruled that Mullens was competent to stand trial.

Details of Mullens’ evaluation revealed that his mother reported that he suffered from childhood abuse, including sexual abuse at the hands of his stepmother. During his evaluation he admitted that he had been charged as a juvenile with rape for engaging in sexual activity with an eight-year-old male neighbor when Mullens was 15 years old. The documentation also revealed that Mullens entered recovery for substance abuse in January of 2016, and that he reported at that time that he had been accused of “touching” his sister’s son inappropriately, which he denied. He also made references to a breakup with a girlfriend just before Christmas of 2015, which prompted his relapse into drug abuse and subsequent attempt at recovery.

Mullens claimed that he had no memory of the alleged incident, which occurred between November and December of 2015, stating that he had been helping the four-year-old use the bathroom when he “blacked out” for five to six hours. He claimed that he was not using drugs that day, or having any mood disturbances, but told investigators that he sometimes had a “monster” inside him.

Mullens had presented at therapy sessions in February of 2016 upset over the allegations, and spoke with detectives investigating the case on March 1, 2016. His trial date is set for Jan. 26, 2017.

In other cases:

Lowell Ratliff, 34, of Ironton, entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity through his counsel on Wednesday. Ratliff, who is facing charges of domestic violence, will now be evaluated for competency.

Tad G. Johnson had a warrant issued for his arrest after failing to appear for sentencing in Cooper’s court on Wednesday. Johnson had already plead guilty and was released with an ankle monitor, but apparently slipped out of the device before fleeing.

David Marshall plead guilty to theft of a protected class, and was sentenced to 10 months and ordered to pay $1,410 in restitution.

Tammy Lowe-Hardin denied violating her community control sanctions and had her trial date set for Jan. 18.

Rita McFann had her charges for felony auto theft reduced to a misdemeanor charge of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and had her 90 day term suspended. McFann will serve one year of probation and was ordered to pay a $200 fine.

Anneimika Walters was scheduled for arraignment on Wednesday, but didn’t show because she is serving jail time in Franklin County for a parole violation, according to her attorney.

Teresa L. Willis was scheduled to show for sentencing, but underwent a medical procedure early Wednesday morning, according to bailiffs. While Willis did show up, because of her condition she was ordered to report back in two weeks for sentencing at that time.

In Judge Andy Ballard’s courtroom Erica D. Anderson plead guilty and was sentenced to four years of intensive supervised probation for charges of drug possession. Anderson was also ordered to attend a treatment program at STAR Workshop and complete 200 hours of community service.

James S. McClaskey entered an admission to community sanctions violations and was sentenced to three months in an appropriate penal institution.

Jason Ratcliff also entered an admission of probation violation and was sentenced to four months.

George Tredway plead not guilty to charges of theft and had his bond set at $5,000 cash surety. Tredway had his pretrial set for January 18.

Mark Weber entered an admission to violating his community control sanctions and was sentenced to 40 days.

Kayla Weed was sentenced to treatment in lieu of incarceration after pleading guilty to possession of heroin. Weed was sentenced to four years of intensive supervised probation and ordered to successfully complete a treatment program with STAR and to complete 200 hours of community service. Failure to complete the terms of her probation could result in 11 months of incarceration with three years of PRC.

Lisa Rentz entered a denial of violating her community control sanctions and had her trial set for next week.

In a case of theft while in office, Ryan E. Meeks plead guilty to two charges, and was sentenced to four years of intensive supervised probation, with 17 months on each count, to run consecutively, hanging over his head. In addition, Meeks is expected to perform 400 hours of community service and ordered to pay restitution totaling $2109.93.

Jeremy D. Penwell also plead guilty to charges in the same case, and will be sentenced on March 15. The duo are accused of using a health department gas card to purchase fuel and other items for personal use while working as employees of the department.