WEWS sports anchor Terry Brooks pleads not guilty to rape, kidnapping charges

CLEVELAND - WEWS NewsChannel5 weekend sports anchor Terry Brooks was arraigned Friday morning on charges on rape and kidnapping. He pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

Bond was set at $10,000, and Brooks had to pay 10 percent to be released from custody.

The preliminary hearing for his trial has been set for August 17, and Brooks was ordered to undergo an HIV test before the trial. That is standard procedure in rape cases.

"Terry maintains his innocence," defense attorney Fernando Mack said. "It's not justice when someone is allowed to walk into a police station almost five months later and make accusations, and it gets past the grand jury and he gets indicted."

Brooks was indicted on August 4 , and is facing charges stemming from an incident that prosecutors say occurred last September in South Euclid.

According to the indictment, Brooks allegedly raped a 21-year-old woman in his South Euclid home after driving there from Jacks Sports Bar. The woman was a known acquaintance, and she reported the incident in January, prosecutors said.

Brooks has been placed on an indefinite leave of absence from NewsChannel5 during the investigation. WEWS General Manager Sam Rosenwasser released the following statement at the time of the indictment.

"Any hint of improper conduct by our employees is taken very seriously by the station and its management team. We will cooperate fully and completely with all investigating authorities in the interest of a resolution that is fair and just for all parties involved. At this time, we have placed Terry Brooks on a leave of absence until the facts are determined and we can evaluate his future with the station."

Brooks came to WEWS in 2007. He graduated from the University of Chattanooga with a double major in communications and psychology.

Brooks’ first job in television was at WDSI in Chattanooga as a fill-in sportscaster. From there he was off to WLTX in Columbia, S.C. then to Raleigh, N.C. at News14 Carolina.