Hartford City man charged with rape, confinement
HARTFORD CITY, Ind. — A Harford City man has been accused of sexually assaulting an Ohio woman at a local motel.
Anthony Romano, 28, is charged in Blackford Circuit Court with two counts of rape, both Level 3 felonies carrying up to 16 years in prison.
According to court documents, Hartford City police began an investigation on Aug. 22 after receiving a call from a nurse at a hospital in Columbus, Ohio, reporting a 24-year-old woman had been assaulted in Blackford County.
According to court documents, the nurse said Romano had "coerced" the Ohio woman into coming with him to Indiana, then refused to allow her to leave, making repeated threats to harm her and her family.
He is also accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting the woman in a room at a Hartford City motel.
More: Police: Muncie man confined, sexually assaulted woman
The report indicated the woman that week had been able to contact her relatives, who picked her up in Hartford City after Romano reportedly allowed her to leave the motel to buy food at a local Taco Bell.
She was taken to a hospital upon her return to Columbus.
Romano and the woman apparently began dating in late June, the documents said, and she left her family's home to come with him to Indiana a few days later.
On Aug. 22 — apparently after the woman had left with her family members — Romano called Hartford City police to report his "ex" had left their motel room and took his driver's license and a bank card.
A day later, a Hartford City police officer went to Columbus to interview the accuser and her family members.
The woman said she had met Romano through an online dating app, but for a time had ended that contact "due to his aggressive, sexual speech."
In June, they reconnected through Facebook Messenger, she said, and he sent her gifts and flowers.
She said he first assaulted her during a visit to Columbus, but that she had agreed to leave with him after he persuaded her that a member of her family was a convicted killer.
The woman reported that once in Indiana, her "predicament frightened her," the officer wrote, because she did not "have the means to return home by herself as she did not know how to drive a vehicle."
She reported she stayed with Romano at a hotel in Marion before they moved to the Hartford City motel.
She also said he had damaged her cellphone before throwing it away, apparently to keep her from contacting relatives. She reported he both struck and bit her when she said she wanted to return to her family in Ohio.
Romano is also charged with criminal confinement resulting in bodily injury, a Level 5 felony with a maximum six-year sentence, and battery resulting in bodily injury, a misdemeanor.
The charges against the Hartford City man were filed on Aug. 24, a day before a warrant was issued for his arrest.
He had apparently not been apprehended as of Monday.
Indiana court records reflected no prior charges against Romano. An affidavit indicated he has also lived in Pennsylvania and Kansas.
Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Hartford City man charged with rape, confinement
