Middletown man charged with raping fellow assisted care resident

A 71-year-old man charged with rape in an incident at a Middletown assisted care facility remains in jail awaiting presentation of the case to a grand jury.

Gary Earls was arrested by police after the November incident at Close to Home on Roosevelt Boulevard.

Officers were called to the facility on Nov. 17 by staff member who said they heard a female resident screaming.

The worker thought the woman had fallen, but when she went into the room she saw Earls, also a resident at the facility, on top of the woman, according to the police report. Both were naked.

A medical squad transported the woman to Atrium Medical Center where an examination was performed and a rape kit was completed.

Earls was taken to the detective section. Lt. Scott Reeve said detectives were going to take the case directly to a Butler County grand jury for presentation, but decided Earls needed to be taken into custody.

Earls’ case was bound over to grand jury for consideration on Dec. 1 after he waived his right to a preliminary hearing.

Bond was set at $100,000 in Middletown Municipal Court.

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