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| Karen Burton of Chapmanville, W.Va., appears in magistrate court as Carmen Williams, right, covers her face Thursday, Oct. 4, 2007 at the Logan Co. Courthouse in Logan, W.Va. Burton is one of six whites accused of torturing Williams' daughter Megan Williams, 20, of Charleston, for days at a ramshackle trailer in Big Creek, W.Va. (AP Photo/Jeff Gentner) | |
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LOGAN, W.Va. (AP) — Charges against a sixth white suspect in the alleged rape, assault and torture of a black woman were sent to the grand jury Thursday.
Karen Burton, 46, is charged with kidnapping, first degree sexual assault, malicious wounding, assault during the commission of a felony and 13 counts of battery.
Logan County Magistrate Jeffrey Lane found probable cause to send the case against Burton to the grand jury.
Burton and five others are accused of holding 20-year-old Megan Williams captive for days — sexually assaulting her, beating her and forcing her to eat human and animal feces at a trailer surrounded by litter in Big Creek.
Charges against the other suspects, including kidnapping and first-degree sexual assault, are expected to go before the grand jury in January. They are Bobby Brewster, 24; his mother, Frankie Brewster, 49; Danny J. Combs, 20; Burton's daughter, Alisha Burton, 23; and George A. Messer, 27. Kidnapping carries a possible life sentence in West Virginia. Sexual assault is a crime punishable by up to 35 years in prison.
During Karen Burton's preliminary hearing, Logan County Sheriff's Deputy Jeffrey Robinette read Bobby Brewster's statement in public for the first time. It said Messer, Karen Burton and Alisha Burton beat Williams and forced her to eat human feces from a toilet.
Bobby Brewster's statement also said that Karen Burton cut and pulled out Megan's hair, choked her, cut her ankle and forced her to perform oral sex on Frankie Brewster. His statement noted repeated instances when the N-word was used during the alleged attack.
Karen Burton's statement "did not acknowledge her participation at all," Robinette said.
An after hours call seeking comment to Karen Burton's attorney, Betty Gregory, was not immediately returned.
Williams' mother, Carmen Williams, attended the hearing but left crying during the testimony. She later said she shares a bed with her daughter, who wakes every night screaming and crying.
The Associated Press generally does not identify suspected victims of sexual assault, but Williams and her mother agreed to release her name. Carmen Williams said she wanted people to know what her daughter had endured.
Megan Williams, who still bears scars from her ordeal, stood silently alongside her family and representatives of Black Lawyers for Justice, a Washington-based advocacy group, at a news conference on the steps of the Logan County Courthouse after the hearing. She did not attend the hearing.
Malik Shabazz, one of the group's founders and a legal adviser to Williams' family, urged prosecutors to bring state and federal hate crimes charges against those arrested.
"It is obvious that this is one of the most sick, horrific, sadistic and evil hate crimes that has ever occurred in U.S. history," he said.
U.S. Attorney Charles T. Miller has said he will not file civil rights charges. Logan County Prosecutor Brian Abraham has said state hate crime charges could be difficult to prove because Williams had a "social relationship" with Bobby Brewster going back at least several months
In July, Bobby Brewster was arrested by State Police and charged with assaulting Williams.