The second of two rape suspects charged in an attack on a 23 year-old Caldwell woman will have his day in court, after a preliminary hearing found probable cause against him.
Henry Thatcher Fogle, 25, of Caldwell is charged with rape, aggravated criminal sodomy and aggravated sexual battery after he and co-defendant Jimmy Jude, 30, of South Haven allegedly raped the woman in early February.
Jude, who will also stand trial on Aug. 3, is charged with one count of rape and another of aggravated criminal sodomy.
Judge William Mott found probable cause for the case to continue to trial after hearing testimony from both the victim and witness, Nicholas Reedy.
Reedy was the first to testify, telling the court and Sumner County District Attorney Evan Watson he heard Fogle say “he was gonna rape a girl from Northfield” while he was at his cousin’s home, but that he “didn’t know if it was true or not.”
Defense attorney Phillip White asked Reedy about the history he and Fogle had together. Reedy admitted to getting into two physical altercations with the defendant, but said he “did not dislike him.” Reedy also said Fogle was “unwanted” at the gathering where he allegedly said he was going to rape a girl.
The rape victim was called to testify and she re-told the court her story from Jude’s preliminary hearing.
The pair told her they wanted to “hang out” and though she told the two she had to go to bed, they made their way into her apartment where for 10 to 20 minutes, Fogle sat on the coach with the woman while she watched cartoons and co-defendant Jude, who introduced himself as “Steve” made a phone call.
She told the court Fogle placed her on his lap and started to touch her, eventually taking off her clothes. She said he touched her under her shirt and in her pants. He was having trouble taking her pants off, she said, but eventually started having sex with her.
The woman said she told Fogle she was “not in the mood for it but he did it anyways.”
She said Fogle and “Steve” then “traded back and forth...taking turns having intercourse” with her while holding her down.
She said she tried to fight them off but Fogle had his hand on her mouth and her shoulder pinned to the couch.
“I couldn’t go anyway,” she told Watson, so she told her assailants “Hurry up and get it over with.”
It was during this time, the woman later testified that “Steve” forced her to have oral sex with him.
Eventually the 23 year-old woman was able to make her way to the bathroom to take a shower. She testified that when in the shower, Fogle jumped in the shower and again had sex with her.
During cross-examination, the woman told White she had a guardian and that though she could make many decision on her own, she still had one to help her in tough times due to her having mental deficiencies. She told White that she doesn’t tell her guardian about her sexual activity because she didn’t want the guardian “jump” into her personal life.
“I don’t want her to know...and she doesn’t want to know,” she said.
The woman also admitted while she did have access to her cell phone during some points that night, she decided not to call law enforcement officials. She also described Fogle as a “friend” to neighbors the next day.
White argued the victim made contradictory statements to the court and since she was mentally capable of making her own decisions, alternatives to the counts against his client regarding victimizing someone who is mentally incapable should be dropped.
Mott agreed though contradictory statements were made, there was sufficient evidence to bring in front of a jury.
Fogle was immediately arraigned and will stand before a jury of his peers on Sept. 14, at 9 a.m.
