Judge denies bond reduction for man charged with sexual assault

MORGANTOWN — Bond will remain at $50,000 for a 67-year-old Wisconsion man, who was extradited to West Virginia to face charges for a sexual assault that happened more than 20 years ago.
Judge Russell Clawges denied the motion to reduce the bond of Raymond W. Wise in Monongalia County Circuit Court Tuesday.
Craig Erhard said his client’s only option, if he were to be released from jail, would be to stay in a shelter. Wise does not have family in the area, and Erhard said he has yet to contact any family for his client.
Wise had a stroke several years ago and has trouble remembering and focusing, Erhard said.
Clawges advised Erhard to deal with any competency issues sooner rather than later.
Prosecutor Perri Jo DeChristopher said Wise had no real residency and was extradited to West Virginia after he served a sentence in Wisconsin for a misdemeanor. She said he has a criminal history in several states.
After denying the bond reduction, Clawges told Erhard to work on a plan for Wise so he would have a place to stay during his time in West Virginia.
Wise is charged with second-degree sexual assault. If convicted he could spend 10-25 years in prison.
According to a criminal complaint, the female victim was collecting cans on Chestnut Street July 2, 1995, when she was approached by a man who told her she could find cans in the city parking garage at the corner of University Avenue and Walnut Street.
When she went to the garage, the man grabbed her from behind and sexually assaulted her.
The case went cold, but all evidence was maintained. In 2005, new DNA extraction techniques were used by the West Virginia State Police crime lab to retrieve DNA from the evidence.
At the time there was no match in convicted offender and casework databases. But in 2017, a match was found during a search of the FBI’s National DNA Index Systems.
The match led police to Wise, whose DNA had been entered into the system in
Wisconsin. According to online court records, Wise pleaded guilty to fourth-degree sexual assault in 2017 in La Crosse, Wisc.