By Andrew Clevenger
Charleston Gazette
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Two men accused of raping a woman while the three were inmates at South Central Regional Jail in 2007 took the witness stand Tuesday in Kanawha Circuit Court and denied the alleged sexual assault.
A grand jury indicted Brandon Cantrell, 24, and Christopher Rader, 25, on charges of first-degree sexual assault in August 2009.
Michelle Kerns said she was raped after correctional officers left her unattended in a recreation area, then placed the two male inmates in the same area with her on the night of Sept. 4, 2007.
Cantrell admitted that he had sex with Kerns, but maintained that it was consensual.
“She agreed to it,” he said Tuesday.
When he and Rader were taken to the recreational area for their hour of time outside of their cells, Kerns was already there, he said.
Cantrell said he offered to call the guards using the intercom, but Kerns declined.
They had sex in a part of the outdoor area where officials couldn’t see them, because they were close to a wall under a window and directly underneath a security camera pointed out toward the small yard, he said.
Kanawha County assistant prosecutor Ben Freeman asked Cantrell if he promised her anything, such as putting $50 on her account at the jail’s commissary.
“No, I didn’t need to,” Cantrell replied.
Rader also testified, and said he didn’t watch the couple after he saw them start to grope each other. He didn’t watch as they had sex, but went about his usual routine of walking around the yard and doing pushups, he said.
Sharon Lemons, who examines and analyzes DNA at the West Virginia State Police lab, said that semen found in swabs taken from Kerns as part of a rape kit performed the following day matched Cantrell.
The odds of finding an unrelated person who matched Cantrell’s DNA are one in 268 trillion, making the match a scientific certainty, she said.
Lemons said she did not find any DNA that matched Rader.
The state and both defenses rested at the end of testimony Tuesday.
In September 2009, Kerns filed a civil lawsuit in Kanawha Circuit Court against the West Virginia Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority and several correctional officers. In October 2009, the case was transferred to federal court, where it is still pending.
Closing arguments in the criminal case are scheduled for Wednesday in front of Judge Jennifer F. Bailey.
Copyright 2010 Charleston Newspapers