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Updated: 1:03 PM Sep 30, 2010
NEW INFO: Appeals Court Overturns Jailer's Rape Conviction
The 2009 rape conviction of a jailer from a small eastern Kentucky county has been overturned.
Posted: 1:03 PM Sep 30, 2010Reporter: Randy Yohe; The Associated Press Email Address: randy.yohe@wsaz.com |
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61 Comments 
UPDATE 9/30/10 @ 1 p.m.
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- The 2009 rape conviction of a jailer from a small eastern Kentucky county has been overturned.
The Kentucky Court of Appeals issued an opinion earlier this month ordering a retrial for Elliott County Jailer Charles Howard, who argued during trial that he and a female prisoner had consensual sex.
The Independent newspaper of Ashland reported the three-judge panel said the judge in the case erred by allowing prosecutors to introduce hearsay testimony.
Howard resigned as Elliott jailer after his conviction. He is lodged at the Northpoint Training Center, according to the Department of Corrections website.
UPDATE 8/7/09 @ 10 a.m.
SANDY HOOK, Ky. (AP) - An eastern Kentucky jailer has resigned after being convicted and sentenced on a rape charge.
51-year-old Charles Howard stepped down after being informed that his public official bond was being revoked and without it he was no longer qualified to hold office.
In a resignation letter date July 29, Howard says he expects his absence to be temporary. He denies any wrongdoing and says that "once my appeal is successful, I intend to reclaim my position as jailer."
Howard was sentenced to 12 years in prison after a jury convicted him of raping a female prisoner. Howard had argued during the trial that he and the woman had consensual sex in his vehicle.
UPDATE 6/29/09 @ 5:30 p.m.
CATLETTSBURG, KY (WSAZ) -- Elliott County Jailer Charles Howard will spend 12 years in prison after being convicted late Monday afternoon on a charge of 1st degree rape.
The sentencing phase of his trial concluded early Monday evening with that decision.
Howard was convicted by a jury in Boyd County Monday after a week long trial in which a jail inmate testified that Howard took her to a remote area and assaulted her.
UPDATE 6/29/09 @ 4:30 p.m.
CATLETTSBURG, KY (WSAZ) -- Elliott County Jailer Charles Howard has been found guilty of first degree rape.
A jury returned its verdict on Howard shortly after 4 p.m. Monday after deliberations lasting roughly 3 hours and 45 minutes.
Howard faces between ten and twenty years in prison. The sentencing phase of his trial will get underway immediately after a short jury recess.
UPDATE 6/29/09 @ 2 p.m./b>
CATLETTSBURG, KY (WSAZ) --Jury deliberations are underway in the rape trial of Elliott County Jailer Charles Howard.
The case went to the jury around noon on Monday.
This was after closing arguments took place earlier in the day.
Testimony wrapped up Friday with Howard taking the stand in his own defense.
UPDATE 6/24/09
CATLETTSBURG, Ky. (WSAZ) -- The alleged victim took the stand Wednesday to testify against Elliott County jailer Charles Howard.
She testified that Howard -- who was taking her to the Boyd County Detention Center -- drove her to a remote area of Boyd County and raped her.
The trial will resume on Thursday with the defense asking questions. If convicted, Howard could face 10 to 20 years in prison.
UPDATE 6/23/09
CATLETTSBURG, KY (WSAZ) -- The trial for the Elliott County jailer, charged with raping a female inmate he was transporting continued Tuesday.
The commonwealth began presenting its case Monday afternoon against Charles Howard.
Prosecutors alleged in their opening statement that the 51-year-old Howard drove the woman to a remote area along the Boyd-Carter county line while taking her to the Boyd County Detention Center in August.
Defense attorney Michael Curtis told the jury the woman made up
the allegations against Howard because she was angry at having to
go to jail.
ORIGINAL STORY 6/22/09
CATLETTSBURG, Ky. (WSAZ) -- Jury selection is underway in the trial of the Elliott County Jailer charged with rape.
Police and prosecutors say that back in September, Charles Howard was driving a 26-year-old female inmate from Sandy Hook to the Boyd County Jail, when the inmate says Howard stopped in a remote area of Boyd County and raped her.
Howard’s rape trail began Monday morning in Boyd County Circuit Court. The trial is expected to last several days.
Howard faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Howard has remained free on bond since his arrest. He's off the job, but not suspended and still getting a paycheck.
The candidate who Howard lost to in the last election, Mark Lewis, was named Elliott County's Transportation Officer until Howard’s legal issues are resolved.
Howard’s trial is the first in Boyd County’s new judicial center.
UPDATE
CATLETTSBURG, Ky. (WSAZ) -- Elliott County, Ky., jailer Charles Howard pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to felony rape charges.
Police and prosecutors said Howard was transporting a 26-year-old female prisoner from Sandy Hook to the Boyd County Detention Center alone on Sept. 2. That's when he is alleged to have sexually assaulted her in a remote Boyd County area.
The fiscal court also is investigating whether Howard's wife Kristi went along on all the designated jail transports that she was paid to work. Most female prisoner transports are done with two guards, preferably one other female. Boyd and Carter county jailers say Howard -- with no jail staff and no jail -- did transport female prisoners with his wife, but just as often alone.
County records show that Kristi Howard was paid $20 each for dozens of contracted transports, but county leaders never checked if she actually went along.
The Deputy Judge-Executive said the county has had problems with Charles Howard not logging mileage and times on prisoner transports, with making unauthorized stops, and with prisoners getting loose.
Charles Howard, an elected official, currently is free on bond. His trial is scheduled to start in February. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
UPDATE
BOYD COUNTY, Ky. (WSAZ) -- The jailer in Elliott County pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a charge of first degree rape.
Charles Howard is scheduled to go to trial February 2nd. He's accused of raping a female inmate while he transported her to another jail.
Howard was arrested on September 2nd after the inmate told police she was raped in a remote area of Boyd County during transport to a detention center in Elliott County.
Howard faces 10 to 20 years in prison if convicted on that rape charge.
Howard remains out on bond. He is currently suspended from the job with pay.
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Latest Comments
Consensual sex huh? Hmm... was this a long term jailer/prisoner romance, or how long was she encapsulated? Just don't make sense. If it wasnt a long term relationship, what did he offer in return for "that consensual sex while transporting"? Drugs and cigarettes maybe? So one way or another, being a jailer, he should have upheld himself to a higher standard. SORRY
Change the location of the location of this trial, and truth would appear, too. Taking the family(s) out of it, and it lets all involved speak freely. If guilty, the perp should be shot by a firing squad. If innocent, he should walk free. Let the facts judge.
Let the feds handle this case. Change of venue will take family out of it and justice will truly be done. If he's guilty, a firing squad. If accuser is lying, same fate. As to the rape kit worshippers, ever hear of Fred Zain? His crime lab incompetence ruined a great many lives.
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