Ramsey
A jury trial has been set for a Seymour man accused of rape.
Michael D. Ramsey, 52, was arrested Feb. 17 and was booked into the Jackson County Jail in Brownstown on charges of confinement and rape. He was released at 4:38 p.m. Tuesday after posting $3,000 cash bond.
As condition of bond, Ramsey was ordered by Jackson Circuit Court Judge Richard W. Poynter to have no contact with the alleged victim.
A pretrial conference was set for 10 a.m. April 3, and a jury trial was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Aug. 8. Ramsey faces a Level 3 felony charge of rape when compelled by force or imminent threat of force and a Level 5 felony charge of criminal confinement with bodily injury.
Around 2 a.m. June 10, 2022, Jackson County Sheriff’s Department officers Billy Dishman, Jordan Hawn and Conner Emily responded to a Seymour home in reference to a report of a rape that had taken place.
The 24-year-old victim told police she had spent some time with the family that night and they decided to have a sleepover. Shortly after lying down to sleep, the victim said Ramsey began trying to talk her into having sex with him, according to the probable cause.
The victim said she began texting her boyfriend, who was out of town, to inform him of the incident, and he told her she needed to leave, but she didn’t.
Ramsey then told his daughter, who was in the same room as the victim, to go sleep in another bedroom. After the daughter left the room, the victim said Ramsey began holding her arms down. She later showed police redness and minor bruising on her wrists.
Ramsey was able to remove the victim’s shorts and underwear and began attempting to penetrate her, according to the probable cause. The victim began moving around to prevent him from assaulting her, and she told police she continually told him no and that she has a boyfriend and he has a wife.
The victim was able to get out from under Ramsey and break free, and then her boyfriend’s mother arrived at the home. Ramsey’s wife heard the commotion in the living room, and the victim left the home with her boyfriend’s mother, according to the probable cause.
The boyfriend’s mother later told police when she saw Ramsey in the home, he was only wearing a pair of boxer shorts and appeared to very intoxicated, and there was a large alcohol bottle that appeared to be recently emptied on the counter, according to the probable cause.
Detective Sgt. Jesse Hutchinson was informed of the incident and responded to investigate. He requested the victim go to the hospital with her mother for the completion of a sexual assault test kit.
After receiving a search warrant, Detective J.L. McElfresh went to the Ramseys’ home to process the scene of the reported rape, taking photographs and collecting evidence.
Hutchinson later went to Schneck Medical Center in Seymour to interview the victim about what happened at the home. After that, he returned to the sheriff’s department and applied for search warrants for the home and for Ramsey to perform a suspect sexual assault kit.
At the home, Ramsey was placed in handcuffs and transported to Schneck for the sexual assault kit to be performed.
Later that day, Hutchinson and Burcham interviewed the victim a second time, this time at the sheriff’s department. She provided police with a written account of more of the incident that started to come back to her.
Police also interviewed Ramsey’s wife and the victim’s boyfriend’s mother about the incident.