ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, July 3, 1996 TAG: 9607030060
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
A Roanoke grand jury has declined to indict a Department of Social Services employee who was charged with raping a co-worker in the Municipal Building.
Kenneth David Dunker, 45, was arrested in May after a woman told police she was raped in a storage area of the downtown building between 2:30 and 3 p.m. April 12. Both Dunker and the woman worked for the eligibility department of Social Services and knew each other, police said at the time.
Because Dunker waived a preliminary hearing in May, no evidence about what happened has been presented in open court.
Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell said a police detective summarized in a closed grand jury session Monday both Dunker's and the woman's differing accounts of what happened.
"Mr. Dunker steadfastly and firmly asserts his innocence to this charge," said his attorney, William Cleaveland.
While authorities could present the case to the next grand jury, which meets in August, Cleaveland said he doubts that will happen.
Police have said the woman first said she did not know her assailant's name, then named a suspect but said she didn't want to prosecute, then finally took out a warrant against Dunker herself.
Since he was charged, Dunker has resigned from his job with the city, Cleaveland said. That decision "had nothing to do with whether he was guilty of any criminal offense," he added.
Social Services Superintendent Corinne Gott, who said in May that both Dunker and the woman had been placed on paid leave pending a department investigation, referred questions about the woman's employment to the city attorney's office.
City Attorney Wilburn Dibling did not return two calls to his office Tuesday afternoon.
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