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Ball facing sexual battery charge

MARIETTA — The case of an alleged sexual battery from the summer of 2015 has one Marietta man facing up to five years in prison if convicted this week in Washington County Commons Pleas Court.

Zachary Francis Ball, 28, of 100 Becker Lane, Marietta, is charged with the third-degree felony, for his alleged actions on Aug. 1, 2015 involving a female who was visiting a mutual friend for the weekend.

“I could feel that I had been moved, something didn’t feel right, I could tell that he was (having sex with) me,” the now-22-year-old victim testified in Judge Mark Kerenyi’s court Monday. “I hit him with my fist and started crying … I didn’t know where my phone was … I didn’t know my way around this town in the dark … I didn’t want to touch him… I curled up in the corner of the bed and cried.”

In his opening statement for the state, Washington County Prosecutor Kevin Rings said the night of the alleged sexual contact began with a weekend getaway for the victim, a chance to hang out with a mutual friend of Ball and the victim, have some drinks and eventually watch a mixed-martial arts match streaming at the Town House, then sleep at Ball’s home.

“The defendant’s version of what happened is very similar up until a certain point,” Rings told the jury. “But he specifically denied that any part of his body entered hers.”

Rings said despite Ball’s statement to law enforcement that he had not violated the victim while she was sleeping, a single sperm cell was found in the victim’s undergarments matching Ball. He said the sexual assault assessment performed by a hospital in Columbus, where the victim was from, also revealed cuts, redness and soreness on the victim.

“She wasn’t even aware of what was happening until it was too late,” Rings said. “This is not a rape case, but one of sexual battery.”

According to the Ohio Revised Code, rape is any form of unwanted sexual contact obtained without consent and/or obtained through the use of force, threat of force, intimidation, or coercion and the alleged offender knew or had reasonable cause to believe the other person’s ability to resist or consent was impaired by a mental or physical condition, or advanced age.

Sexual battery is defined as sexual conduct with another person, which was knowingly coerced, the alleged assailant knew the other person’s ability to control their conduct was substantially impaired, knew the other person submitted to the sexual conduct because they were unaware the act was being committed or knew the other person submitted to the sexual conduct because they mistakenly identified the alleged offender as their spouse.

The state’s case is that the victim’s impaired state, that of sleep and intoxication, barred her from being able to consent to the alleged sexual contact of Ball.

“We are going to show you that sex did not occur,” said defense attorney Rolf Baumgartel.

Baumgartel said Ball is a “personable and bright young man” that had no criminal history before the accusation of sexual battery.

“There was no sex between these two, this was a young woman who had too much to drink, woke up in another man’s clothes and drew the wrong conclusion,” Baumgartel said.

The jury also heard testimony Monday from the Ohio State Medical Center nurse who examined the victim on Aug. 2 and the police officer who interviewed the victim at the hospital.

The trial will reconvene today at 10 a.m. in Kerenyi’s court with the state bringing forward two expert witnesses from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations lab and Marietta Police Officer Katie Warden before resting.

Baumgartel said Ball is also expected to take the stand.

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