Deputy pleads not guilty to 13 rape, sex charges

1/24/2001

TIFFIN - A Seneca County sheriff's deputy pleaded not guilty yesterday to 13 criminal charges, including rape and gross sexual imposition.

Dale Matthews was arraigned in Seneca County Common Pleas Court on two counts of rape, two counts of gross sexual imposition, four counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor, four counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance, and one count of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor.

A $100,000 bond was continued for Mr. Matthews, 37, of Tiffin, who posted 10 percent of that amount last week and was freed from the Crawford County jail. The corrections officer, who volunteered as a troop leader for the Tiffin Rangers, faces charges involving a total of four male victims, according to an indictment against him.

The defendant's attorney, Dean Henry, said his client strongly disputes the rape and imposition charges, which allege that Mr. Matthews had oral sex in 1995 with a male whose "ability to resist or consent was substantially im|paired because of a mental or physical condition," according to the indictment.