SOUTH CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) — A woman who said she was drugged, kidnapped, and raped by a West Virginia State Trooper is considering suing.
Jesse Forbes and Dante’ diTrapano, the victim’s attorneys, sent a letter to West Virginia State Police on Tuesday, March 21. The lawyers addressed the allegations and informed the police they will sue next month.
“We represent a woman who has been horrifically abused, drugged, raped, and victimized by the people that are supposed to protect us,” Forbes said. “They’re supposed to protect you and me. They’re supposed to protect our children, family, mothers. They’re supposed to protect my client, and this is the exact opposite of that.”
The letter claimed the incident happened in Logan, West Virginia, in December 2021. It said that on the night of the incident, the trooper was flashing his badge around at the American Legion Post 19 Club.
Forbes said the victim woke up the next day covered in blood, urine and feces. He said the rape unit at CAMC Women and Children’s Hospital confirmed the woman was victimized. The hospital also contacted a victim advocate who reported the incident to the FBI.
Following the alleged incident, Forbes also said the trooper tried to contact the woman through a Facebook message to ask if he left his hat in her car.
“What we have is a state trooper that has gone out, according to these accusations, and attacked her and planned it out through the process of drugging her and sexually assaulting her and being so cold and callous to disregard her the next day,” Forbes said. “This is dangerous stuff and it needs to come to light and it needs to be addressed and it needs to stop.”
Forbes said there was a previous notice filed about the October 2022 incident that was not acknowledged, and he is hoping the allegations will be taken seriously this time.
“Unfortunately, when you get this type of situation most of the time predators don’t only act one time, and so there’s serious concern that there’s more events that took place in respect to this trooper,” he said. “We’re in the process of investigating those, and we hope to have more information soon.”
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice confirmed the FBI was looking into what he referred to as “rapes” within the state police; however, it is unclear if this case is one of them.
No criminal charges were ever filed in the case, and 13 News is not naming the trooper.
We reached out to WVSP Chief of Staff Jim Mitchell for comment, and he said, “WVSP is aware that the FBI is investigating allegations against one of its current employees. WVSP’s internal investigation of these allegations will follow the FBI’s investigation to avoid interfering with it. WVSP has received notice of intent to sue from Mr. DiTrapano in connection with these allegations. WVSP cannot provide any comment on the allegations, as they are the potential subject of both criminal and civil actions.”
When asked to comment on the letter that was previously sent about the October 2022 incident, Mitchell said, “The October 2022 letter to WVSP was the “notice of intent to sue” (previously mentioned), which is required by WV statute. The Superintendent was not required to (and did not) respond to the notice. The letter also made WVSP aware of the FBI’s involvement, which the Superintendent did confirm.”