One of the charges against a man accused of breaking into a Marietta home was reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor during a preliminary hearing Wednesday in Marietta Municipal Court.
A charge of gross sexual imposition against Jacob A. Wood, 22, of 106 Briargate Drive, Marietta, was reduced to a misdemeanor count of sexual imposition, but he remains charged with felony counts of grand theft auto, burglary and breaking and entering.
Leslee Hart, 23, of Marietta testified on Wednesday that Wood entered her home early Saturday morning. After being asked to step outside, he asked if he could touch her. She said no, but Hart said Wood did so anyway and she pushed him away.
"Nothing like that has ever happened to me before," she said. "We live in a fairly quiet neighborhood."
According to affidavits filed with the court, the sheriff's office received reports that an intoxicated male was walking near the woods near the Family Ford car lot on Ohio 7 in Marietta.
Upon patrolling the area, a deputy found Wood hiding behind a van in the parking lot of River City Tire. When questioned, Wood said he was planning to steal the vehicle.
Wood also admitted to stealing a Jeep earlier that evening, driving it into a ditch and then proceeding to Hart's residence, the affidavit says.
Wood's attorney, Rolf Baumgartel, argued that because Wood was not violent the gross sexual imposition felony charge should be reduced to a sexual imposition misdemeanor.
"This is a classic case of sexual imposition," Baumgartel said. "This is the same as someone who gets intoxicated at a bar and touches a woman without her permission."
Sipe agreed and reduced the charge.
Baumgartel also asked that the burglary charge be dropped to receiving stolen property because of a lack of evidence. However, acting Judge Dennis Sipe said he had seen enough to keep the charges as they were.
With the reduction of the sexual imposition charge to a misdemeanor, Wood's bond on that charge dropped from $5,000 to $1,500. He remains in custody at the Washington County Jail on a total bond of $14,000, a booking officer said Wednesday.
Baumgartel requested that the bond be lowered because Wood had not made any threatening comments or gestures other than his inappropriate actions with Hart. He also asked that Wood be given some kind of evaluation for mental problems.
Sipe said he would not lower the bond because Wood had made several comments indicating he might cause harm to himself, but he would work to have him evaluated before his arraignment Friday in Washington County Common Pleas Court.
