Alleged victim testifies as rape trial of former sheriff's deputy begins

A Lorain County Common Pleas Court jury heard opening statements and the testimony of the alleged victim in the rape case against Charles "Chuck" Crausaz, 52, of Columbia Township. The former Lorain County sheriff's deputy faces felony charges of rape, kidnapping and two counts of strangulation. He also faces misdemeanor charges of domestic violence and using weapons while intoxicated Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Patrick Hakos told the jury that Crausaz had returned home from a brief stay at an alcohol abuse rehabilitation facility May 11, 2024. The next day, Hakos said, Crausaz got drunk before handcuffing a woman in his home and then allegedly physically assaulted her and forced her to participate in multiple sexual acts while taking pictures. Defense attorney Matthew Bobrowski told the jury that much of the story the prosecution told was not in dispute. What was in dispute was the nature of the sexual encounter that did occur, which he argued was consensual. Rather than drunkenly forcing the alleged victim into handcuffs, Bobrowski said his client was sober when he exited his bathroom to find the woman in handcuffs and on his bed. "We're not disputing at all that a sexual encounter occurred," he said. "What we're disputing is whether it was, in fact, consensual. Mr. Crausaz is saying it was a consensual sexual encounter." It was not unusual, Bobrowski said to the jury, for Crausaz and the alleged victim to take such pictures, adding "this was something they did." "So, yes, a sexual encounter did occur," Bobrowski said. "At some point through, and Mr. Crausaz himself will testify — if it comes to that, if he does take the stand — that encounter went south someway that he is not aware (of)." The alleged victim, who had been in a relationship with Crausaz prior to the alleged rape, was the first witness to testify. The Chronicle-Telegram does not typically identify alleged victims of sexual assault. She outlined a history of problem drinking for Crausaz, saying that in the days before the alleged assault that she had driven him to Cincinnati and dropped him off at an alcohol rehabilitation facility. Crausaz checked himself out of that facility and returned home to Columbia Township three days later. The alleged assault took place the next day on Sunday, May 12, 2024. From the stand, the witness said that Crausaz had seemed sober and normal upon his return from Cincinnati up until she discovered him sleeping on a recliner on the patio of his home. When she woke Crausaz up, she could tell he was drunk, she said. She told him to go upstairs to sleep in his bedroom and went back inside. The alleged victim said that she found a 1.5-liter plastic bottle of vodka tucked between the slats of a wooden pallet outside. She dumped out that bottle in the sink "like I had so many times before." Crausaz eventually went upstairs, and the alleged victim said she went back to watching television on the couch downstairs. Soon after, the alleged victim said that Crausaz came downstairs wearing only "lounge pants" and approached her. She said that Crausaz then grabbed her wrist, threw her to the floor and placed a handcuff on her left wrist. The alleged victim said that she protested and struggled as he attempted to place her other wrist in the cuffs "I was wrestling around with him, because I didn't want him to put me in the handcuffs," she said on the stand. "I said, 'What are you doing?' and he said, 'You're not gonna tell me no.'" She told Hakos she knew Crausaz had been referring to having sex at that moment, and that, despite being in a relationship, they had not had sex in at least six months because "I was tired of all the alcohol and all the lies." She testified that she and Crausaz continued to wrestle for some time before he eventually placed her in a "loose chokehold," then sat on her chest. It was then, the alleged victim said, that Crausaz was able to place her right hand in the handcuffs. Hakos asked the witness if using handcuffs while having sex was common for her and Crausaz. "Absolutely not," she said. The witness said that after Crausaz had placed the handcuffs on her he began to hit her in the face and on the side of her head. He then removed her pants and underwear, she said. She said he told her to go up to his bedroom and she complied because he had already hit her multiple times. "I didn't know what he was gonna do," she said. "This was somebody who I had never seen before, the look on his face … was something I had never seen before." The alleged victim said that Crausaz attempted to cut the shirt she was still wearing off with a knife but that when he was unsuccessful, he took off her handcuffs so she was able to remove her shirt and bra. For the next two hours by the alleged victim's estimation, Crausaz forced her to participate in sexual acts while he took pictures on his phone before raping her. Hakos asked the witness if there was any chance that Crausaz could have thought the sex that they had was consensual. She said the sex was not consensual, and Crausaz was aware of that. "I said it. I said it numerous times," the alleged victim said. "I said, 'I can't believe you're doing this to me, I can't believe you're hitting me. A person you claim to love.' " The witness said that Crausaz responded to her protests by slapping her buttocks repeatedly, hard enough to leave marks that were visible several days later. Eventually, the alleged victim said, Crausaz threatened to harm himself. "He said 'I know I crossed a line and you're never gonna forgive me, so when I'm done, I'm gonna go out back and blow my head off,'" she testified. The witness testified that she was eventually able to convince Crausaz to let her use the downstairs bathroom. When he did not follow her, she said she grabbed her purse and phone and locked herself in the bathroom. Initially, the alleged victim texted her neighbors and sister-in-law for help, but she said when she heard Crausaz take their dogs outside, she was able to call 911 herself. Sheriff's deputies arrived and took Crausaz into custody. They also took pictures of the witness which were shown to her and the jury in court, showing her swollen face and other physical markings from the alleged assault. Numerous other pictures were entered into evidence, including some taken when the alleged victim underwent a rape kit at the Nord Center, some taken by her showing the markings on her wrists days later and many taken by Crausaz himself during the encounter. The defense will have the opportunity to cross-examine the woman when court goes back into session this afternoon. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.