By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
Crawford County Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leuthold set bond at $500,000 for a man accused of allegedly raping a woman.
Fifty-two-year-old Maximino Hernandez of Galion appeared in Common Pleas Court Monday afternoon for an arraignment hearing on a first degree felony rape charge. He was accompanied by bilingual attorney Esteban Callejas of Bowling Green. A certified interpreter from Franklin County was brought in to assist in the proceedings.
“We are going to make certain that your client understands every word spoken in this courtroom,” Leuthold assured Callejas. “This court will bend over backwards to make certain that he is treated fairly and his due process rights protected. The fact that there is a language barrier here is not going to interfere with his ability to have a fair trial.”
Callejas entered a not guilty plea for his client and asked the court to reconsider the $500,000 bond originally set in Municipal Court by Judge Shane Leuthold on May 21.
Hernandez, according to his lawyer, is in the country on a visa and has been in Crawford County for eight months. Though his family lives in Galion and he was working at El Tarasco at the time of the alleged incident, Leuthold believed that Hernandez did not have any significant ties to the community. Leuthold continued the $500,000 bond and ordered Hernandez to have no contact with the victim.
Hernandez has been charged with allegedly engaging in sexual conduct with a victim and purposefully compelling the victim to submit by force or threat of force on May 18. The first degree felony charge carries a maximum sentence of 11 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.
In unrelated cases, 41-year-old Karissa Smith of Bucyrus appeared in court for violating her intervention program. Smith allegedly possessed Oxycodone and drug paraphernalia on June 15 and tested positive for cocaine, benzodiazepines, and opiates on June 17. Leuthold appointed Tim O’Leary as her attorney and set bond at $250,000.
Timothy Stander agreed to be extradited to West Virginia after being arrested by local police. Stander is a fugitive from that state for charges of gross child neglect and failure to appear at a hearing.