Claysburg Man Jailed on Multiple Rape-Related Charges

A Claysburg man is in jail after police said he sexually assaulted a woman multiple times in his home.

Kenneth L. Wells, 43, is accused of assaulting the woman over several days after picking her up in Tyrone and transporting her to Claysburg.

According to Greenfield Township police, the victim said she met Wells on Dec. 26 on the dating app Badoo. The victim told police that Wells traveled to Tyrone to “hang out” and that she agreed to go to Wells’ residence in Claysburg to spend a few days.

The victim told police that on the morning of Dec. 27, she was in the kitchen of Well’s home cleaning dishes when Wells came up behind her and wrapped his left arm around her waist while holding a knife to her throat with his right hand.

The victim told police that on the morning of Jan. 2, she heard Wells talking on the phone to someone Wells allegedly told her was affiliated with the Crips criminal gang. (The Crips are a gang based in the coastal regions of southern California. It was founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969.)

The victim told police that when she told Wells that she wanted him to take her home the next day, he allegedly pushed her on the bed and grabbed her arm.

The victim told police that later that day she was in the bedroom checking her phone when Wells allegedly accused her of talking to other men and started going through her phone.

The victim told police that Wells then grabbed her by the throat and forced her on the bed and sexually assaulted her. The victim told police that she asked Wells to stop but he did not. The victim said Wells also took pictures of her. The victim told police that Wells sexually assaulted her again that day and that she also asked him to stop the second time.

The victim said she then gathered her belongings and packed them in a luggage case and that while she was packing Wells grabbed hold of her throat and started to squeeze. The victim told police that when Wells released her, he grabbed a knife that was beside the bed and allegedly said, “remember what I been telling you” and then left the bedroom with the knife.

The victim told police that Wells then drove her to her father’s house in Tyrone and dropped her off. Before the victim exited Wells’ vehicle, he allegedly told her that she wasn’t supposed to say anything to anyone, or she would “end up like Joslyn.” He also allegedly ordered the victim to “tell your father and everybody what a good guy he is.”

Police ran an online search and discovered an article reporting that Wells was charged and convicted of killing his paramour named Joslyn in Fayette County in 2001.

Wells was charged with felony counts of rape, strangulation, sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault and intimidation of a witness along with misdemeanor counts of simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, terroristic threats, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, indecent assault and possession of an instrument of crime.

He was arraigned on Jan. 4 by Martinsburg Magisterial District Judge Andrew Blattenberger and committed to the Blair County Prison in lieu of $200,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 14 in front of Blattenberger.