Court briefs
Trial to continue The trial for a Dunbar man accused of sexually abusing a 9-year-old girl last July 4 will continue this morning in Fayette County Court.
Robert William Cullen, 30, of 21 Elm St. in the Greenhill Mobile Home Park is on trial for allegedly forcing the youngster, whom he was watching, to sexually touch him while she was bathing.
Cullen is charged with indecent assault, indecent exposure and corruption of minors.
Judge John F. Wagner Jr. is presiding over the case.
Charges dismissed
All of the charges lodged against a man accused of holding a Fayette County woman against her will last Sept. 9 were dismissed after the woman failed to show up for court on Monday.
Richard Darnel Simmons, 34, was charged with unlawful restraint, false imprisonment and terroristic threats for allegedly holding Tamara Lynn Smith until he was paid for her release.
Smith, according to court records, lost a pair of diamond earrings Simmons asked her to hold. When he could not find the earrings, police alleged that he took Smith until her mother could pay him for the jewelry.
When Smith’s mother, Mildred Wilburn, met Simmons with $300, police arrested him.
However, when Smith did not show up to testify against Simmons, President Judge Conrad B. Capuzzi dismissed the case.
Man faces charges
Fayette County Judge Ralph C. Warman is presiding over the trial of a Uniontown man accused of raping a woman at the North Union Township Holiday Inn.
Michael J. Greathouse, 38, of 319 Virginia Circle, Uniontown, is charged with rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and indecent assault.
State police trooper David Bell alleged that Greathouse met a woman at the hotel bar, and when she got sick from drinking, rented her a room. When Greathouse took her to that room, he allegedly took off her clothes and raped her between Feb. 1-2, 2001.
The trial will resume this morning.