Rape Charge Is Filed
By LINDA L. HULL For the News-RegisterBridgeport Police arrested an area man on charges of aggravated assault and rape around 10:46 p.m. Sunday after the alleged victim claimed he was assaulted at a Bennett Street location.
John McConnaughy, 42, 422 Bennett St., was arrested after police officers Jerry Delmon and Gerald Ray were called to a Bridgeport business location to speak to an individual who had reportedly been assaulted. The subject said he had just been to the Bennett Street address and had been assaulted by McConnaughy, according to police.
While speaking with the officers, police said the alleged victim seemed extremely upset.
He related that he was punched, thrown to the ground and had a foot put to his throat by McConnaughy, police said. Although the officers tried to get a statement from the alleged victim, he was too upset to write, according to the police report.
The subject then alleged that he had been raped by McConnaughy. The man told Ray and Delmon, as they were trying to gather information, that when he refused to have sex with McConnaughy he (the alleged victim) had to run upstairs to try to get away from McConnaughy.
However, the subject said that McConnaughy was too strong for him and ended up raping him anyway. The report stated that the officers called the emergency squad to take the victim to the East Ohio Regional Hospital. The officers went to Bennett Street to talk to McConnaughy about the incident.
When the police arrived at the scene they were greeted by McConnaughy, invited in and once they were inside, McConnaughy said that he just had a verbal argument with the individual about household chores. He reportedly said that the argument escalated and McConnaughy had allegedly pushed the alleged victim to the floor. He stated that the alleged victim had bit his own lip, that his relationship with him was not a sexual one.
Officers asked if any type of assault had occurred, and McConnaughy said that no other incidents took place. McConnaughy was then told about the allegations against him and was asked for permission to search the premises. A search was made upstairs and in one of the rooms a pair of green pajamas with blood on them were found, police reported.
Evidence was taken and the officers had Belmont County deputies transport McConnaughy to jail. According to Bridgeport Police Chief Chad Dojack the investigation is ongoing and McConnaughy is still lodged in the Belmont County Justice Center where he is being held on $20,000 bond for the rape charge and $6,000 on the aggravated assault charge. He is expected to appear in Northern Division Court sometime this week.
