Jourdyn Rawlins is accused of raping two different women who did not know one another eight months apart in 2020 and 2021.
Jessica Orozco | The Lima News
LIMA — The two women accusing a Lima man of rape testified at the man’s trial Wednesday.
Jourdyn Rawlins, 19, is charged with raping the women eight months apart in September 2020 and May 2021. He was 17 at the time of the incidents.
The woman who was 17 at the time of the alleged September 2020 rape, testified Tuesday and Wednesday that she went to Rawlins’ house on the 300 block of South Cole Street on the night of September 12, 2020, where he raped her.
In witness testimony, the woman’s friend, whom The Lima News has chosen not to name to protect the alleged victim’s identity, who said she called her while driving home was too distraught to understand for the majority of the phone call and all she could understand was “He wouldn’t let go.”
Lima Police Department Patrol Officer Austin Michael said in the stand he took the woman’s statement at her house the day after the incident. He said the woman told him about the initial penetration and said Rawlins then got on top of her and held her down and asked her to have sex. He said the alleged victim told him she told Rawlins she would engage in oral sex with him if he got off of her.
Michael said the woman told him Rawlins got off of her and the two argued before she drove off.
Michael said he took her clothes into evidence and he called a juvenile detective, who met them at the hospital for a sexual assault exam.
Kristen Guey, a charge nurse at Mercy Health-St. Rita’s Medical Center who is SANE — sexual assault nurse examiner — trained said she performed the exam on the woman, collecting DNA samples and taking photographs.
The woman who alleged being raped by Rawlins in May 2021 said she and the other woman did not know each other. She said she went to high school with Rawlins but did not know him well.
She said the two talked via Facebook Messenger on May 26, 2021 and Rawlins invited her to “chill.” The woman said she told him that she did not want to have sex because she was on her period and he told her “I said chill not sex.” She said she agreed and he picked her up in his car and they drove to his house, where they went his bedroom to hang out.
The alleged May 2021 victim said it is common for her to hang out with her friends in their bedrooms. She said while she was sitting against the headboard and Rawlins was laying on the edge of the bed, he asked her if she wanted to cuddle, to which she agreed and lay on top of him.
The woman said Rawlins then asked her if he could “put the tip in,” meaning the tip of his penis, to which she said no because she was on her period and had a tampon in. She said she became uncomfortable and got off of him to return to her sitting position against the headboard.
The woman said she believes now she should have left then, but she did not, and Rawlins straddled her legs and pulled her sweatshirt off “so hard I had a headache after.” She said she told him “this isn’t cuddling” and he pulled her leggings down and his penis out to dry hump her inner thigh.
The woman said she asked Rawlins, “Are you sexually frustrated? Don’t take it out on me,” and he told her he was and continued what he was doing. She said Rawlins removed her bra and kissed her on the lips and body and she began to cry and tell him no. She said he then pulled her underwear down and forced himself inside of her.
The woman said she “shut down at that point” and Rawlins raped her forcefully for about three to four minutes, stopping when she stopped fighting him.
The alleged victim said when he got off of her, she rushed to get her clothes back on so she could get away from him. She said Rawlins told her to let him take her home and she declined, saying she would walk. She said as soon as she was dressed, she ran outside and began to walk home.
The woman said Rawlins followed her in his Jeep, yelling at her to not tell anyone what had happened. He stopped following her when he was stopped at a light and people in cars behind him had grown frustrated with his slow rate of speed.
The woman said she texted her friend while she was walking, “I think I was just raped,” and the friend told her he would pick her up at her house. After he picked her up, she said she told him what happened and they drove to his house to talk to his mother.
She said after that conversation, she called her own mother, and said “I think Jourdyn just raped me.” The two met at St. Rita’s for a sexual assault exam. She said the hospital called the police and that is when she filed the report.
During cross-examination, Rawlins’ attorney, Andrea Bayer, asked the woman if she and Rawlins had hung out in the past. The woman said they had two times before the alleged rape and one time was when he drove her home after a state test because she had a blister and needed a ride.
Bayer asked the woman about the other time, and she said they hung out in Rawlins’ car at a park, where they “messed around.” She said they “used to mess around sexually” but stopped years before the alleged rape.
At this point, Allen County Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Thines objected on the grounds of a rape shield, which limits the ability of defense counsel to question witnesses in rape cases about the past sexual behavior, unless it is explicitly relevant to the case in a way that can be demonstrated with material evidence.
Allen County Common Pleas Court Judge Terri Kohlrieser discussed the issue with the state and defense, ultimately deciding the court would adjourn until 8 a.m. Thursday, when the attorneys will return to discuss it further and Kohlrieser will make a ruling.
Witness testimony will resume Thursday at 9 a.m. after Kohlrieser’s ruling.
