Staff report
An Indiana man charged with sexually assaulting a female student just a year ago entered an Alford plea Friday afternoon in Calloway Circuit Court.
Brandon McManomy, non-student from Evansville, Ind., allegedly kidnapped a female student from the Roy Stewart Stadium parking lot and sexually assaulted her at an off-campus location on August 31, 2010, according to the initial police report.
Detective Dave Howe of the Murray Police Department, who was assigned the case, worked with the Vanderburgh County (Ind.) Sheriff’s Department. McManomy was arrested on Sept. 2, 2010, and extradited to the Calloway County Jail later that year.
Circuit Judge Dennis Foust presided over Friday’s trial in which Commonwealth’s Attorney Mark Blankenship charged McManomy with first-degree criminal abuse, unlawful imprisonment and violation of an out-of-state emergency protective-domestic violence order that the victim had filed against him months before the attack.
In a conference before the trial, McManomy’s lawyer Will Kautz of Paducah, Ky., negotiated with Blankenship to lessen the original charges of first-degree rape, first-degree sodomy, kidnapping, first-degree assault and violation of an out-of-state domestic violence/emergency protective order.
Kautz said his client would only agree to plea to the amended charges.
Blankenship said the female victim had originally agreed to allow the trial to proceed on the amended charges, but he said he received a text message after the new charges had been set stating the victim wished to withdraw her agreement.
Because the charges had been set, however, Blankenship did not move to amend the charges again, and McManomy plead.
McManomy’s Alford plea did not admit guilt, but rather agreed that Blankenship had enough evidence to convict him on those charges.
Foust sentenced McManomy to 15 years in prison, which Blankenship said was appropriate considering McManomy’s alleged involvement in an attempted murder in Indiana.
Prosecutors are investigating that incident, for which McManomy has been charged.