Alleged rape victim sues Butler County prosecutor over the handling of her case

A Cincinnati attorney has sued Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser in the Ohio Supreme Court alleging he hijacked a case in which she is a rape victim.

Jennifer M. Kinsley claims Gmoser, without proper authority, took over the criminal complaint against her alleged rapist, Aaron Roco.

“Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph (‘Joe’) Deters has abdicated his statutory obligation to prosecute a dangerous man currently under indictment for multiple counts of rape and has instead outsourced his duties to the Butler County Prosecutor without following the required procedures for the appointment of special prosecutors,” she wrote in her complaint.

“The Butler County Prosecutor has in turn assumed prosecutorial authority over a case which was indicted and charged in Hamilton County without judicial appointment.”

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She is asking the high court to remove Gmoser from the case and tells the court there was something nefarious about this situation because Roco’s attorney gave Deters’ campaign a $2,500 contribution.

“Both prosecutors have agreed to an unprecedented plea bargain with an indicted rapist that ironically coincided with a major campaign contribution from defense counsel,” she wrote. “This plea was negotiated and agreed to without (Kinsley’s) consent and over her consistent objection.”

Gmoser said the judge in the Hamilton County case appointed his office at the Hamilton County prosecutor’s request, after Deters and Kinsley got into a “Twitter war” over an unrelated matter.

“It is one of the most ignorant things I’ve seen an attorney do,” Gmoser said.

“The filing in the Supreme Court is factually wrong,” he added. “She just didn’t do her homework. The fact is I was appointed and it was signed off by the judge.”

Presiding Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Charles Kubicki signed an order May 21. He appointed Assistant Butler County Prosecutor Brad Burress to handle the Roco case because “a conflict of interest does now exist making it inappropriate for the Office of the Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney to continue in the prosecution.”

Gmoser said and his fellow elected prosecutors in southwest Ohio often ask each other to take over cases when conflicts arise.

“Joe got himself into a Twitter war with her in which she as an attorney and he as the prosecutor were fighting over something that’s totally unrelated to her allegations,” Gmoser said. “When it became known to Joe she was the alleged victim in a rape case his office was handling, he called me and said ‘Mike I’ve got to get off this case I’ve got a conflict.’”

Contacted on Friday, Kinsley said: “Mr. Gmoser is agreeing to a plea bargain that will allow a man he knows has violently raped and beaten multiple women to essentially go free. This not only demeans what I experienced, but places other women at risk. The defendant will hurt other people, and when he does their pain is on Mr. Gmoser’s hands. Mr. Gmoser is supposed to protect the public, but he’s doing the exact opposite in this case.”

The high court has ordered Gmoser to respond to the complaint by Sept. 20.

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