HANCOCK COUNTY — A woman told local police a southern Indiana man forced himself on her in the middle of the night while he was visiting her home last December, according to court documents.
Joseph R. O’Neil, 427 E. 10th St., Mt. Vernon, was charged this week with two counts of rape and one count of sexual battery, records show.
The woman told investigators that the man was visiting her home around Christmas with his children.
She allowed the man to share her bed for the night, and she woke up early the next morning to him assaulting her, she said, according to court documents.
She tried to push him off of her, but O’Neil used his body weight to keep her down, she told police. She didn’t scream for help because she didn’t want the children to wake up and see what was happening, she said, according to court documents.
She reported the incident to police a few days later, records show.
The woman told investigators she’d felt pressured by the man in the past, and he’d made advances toward her just prior to the alleged assault, court documents state.
The woman said O’Neil often “badgers her into sending nude photos of herself.” She has complied in the past and sent the photos because she believes it’s the only way he’ll continue to allow her to have contact with his children, she told police, according to court documents.
In the hours before the alleged assault, O’Neil made passes at her and tried to touch her, but she resisted him, she said. When she went to bed that night, he lied down with her and convinced her he wasn’t going to touch her, she said, according to court documents.
The woman said she spent the day after the alleged assault with O’Neil and his children. She said she knows she must have been visibly upset because O’Neil “told her not to be grumpy,” court documents state.
A medical examination revealed O’Neil’s DNA on private parts of the woman’s body, court documents state.
She turned her cellphone over to police saying there were text messages on the device that would corroborate her story. No texts were included in the charging documents filed against O’Neil.
Records show investigators also served a search warrant to the social media site Snapchat for copies of any photos and messages the two exchanged.
O’Neil is expected to make his first court appearance Monday morning. He faces two Level 3 felony counts of rape and one Level 6 felony count of sexual battery.
Level 3 felony counts carry a penalty of three to 16 years in prison; and Level 6 felony counts carry a penalty of six months to 2½ years in prison.
O’Neil has hired attorney Bryan Cook of Carmel to represent him in the case, records show. Cook told the Daily Reporter O’Neil denies the allegations and plans to plead not guilty during his court appearance Monday. From there, they plan to mount a vigorous defense in the case, Cook said.