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Massillon police charge suspect in abduction and rape of 9-year-old girl

Posted at 4:06 PM, Sep 28, 2016
and last updated 2016-09-29 12:19:41-04

On Wednesday, police identified the suspect in the abduction and rape of a 9-year-old child. 

Massillon Police identified 45-year-old Dennis L. Menefee Jr. of Port Washington, Ohio. Menefee was arrested by the Fairfield County Sheriff's Office for first-degree felony charges of rape, kidnapping, and first-degree misdemeanor charges of assault and aggravate menacing. 

On Monday Menefee allegedly told a 9-year-old child he was a police officer when she was walking home from the library near St. Paul's Church. The child was then forced into a vehicle and transported a short distance to a parking lot where she was sexually assaulted, beaten, and threatened prior to being released. She walked home and told her family, who reported it to the police. 

Investigators identified a vehicle from surveillance video at a local business based on the description received from the victim. Menefee's identity and his vehicle were confirmed by the victim. 

Menefee is also linked to a case in Wyoming in 1993 when he picked up a 40-year-old woman off of a street corner, raped her, and kicked her out of his vehicle. The woman froze to death. Menefee pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to four-to-seven years in prison.

The woman Menefee murdered in Wyoming was the mother of Russell Henderson who was convicted of murdering Matthew Shepard. 

Read the complaint filed against Menefee below: 

 

Complaints against Dennis Menefee Jr. by KimAnderson on Scribd