MORGANTOWN — A man who is accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old, a woman who allegedly collected money for years through a charity for her child’s medical condition then used the money for other things and a woman accused of sexually assaulting and abusing an 11-year-old boy are among those who appeared in court on Monday, for the first time since being indicted.
Monongalia County Circuit Court Judges Debra Scudiere and Phillip Gaujot both held arraignments for the cases assigned to them after the May term of the Monongalia County grand jury returned 112 indictments.
Sarah Elizabeth Webber, 35, pleaded not guilty to first-degree sexual assault, first-degree sexual abuse and domestic assault before Scudiere. Webber also pleaded not guilty to sexual abuse of a child by a parent, guardian, custodian or person of trust.
All three sexual crimes were against the same 11-year-old boy, according to her indictment. All four incidents happened on Dec. 23, 2018, according to the indictment.
Scudiere also heard the not guilty plea of 50-year-old Kurtis Byrd, who is charged with second-degree sexual assault.
Byrd is accused of getting into the car of a 16-year-old girl at McDonalds in Westover, having her drive to the Econo Lodge on Commerce Drive and then sexually assaulting her, according to Westover Police Chief Rick Panico. The alleged incident happened April 21.
Tonya Hawkins, 34, pleaded not guilty to obtaining money by false pretenses. According to her indictment she collected thousands of dollars under the false pretense that the money would be spent on an “imminent, critical medical procedure.”
According to Hawkins’ criminal complaint, detectives received a complaint in November 2017 and were given evidence showing the child may not have the medical condition Hawkins advertised.
Detectives inspected bank, communication and medical records, and learned Hawkins opened a checking account to benefit a transplant fund, and more than $30,000 was deposited into it.
Hawkins and her son were featured at least three times in The Dominion Post in 2014 and 2015. Each time, she was soliciting money to help pay for a double lung transplant she said her son needed. In 2014, she said he was diagnosed by the time he was 4 with Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia, a disease affecting the motility of the cilia lining the respiratory tract. The disease makes those who have it more susceptible to recurring respiratory infections.
Arrest warrants were issued for the following people who failed to show for their arraignment:
Vishwanath Muthuraman, Walter Wall Jr., Larry Hagyari, Christine Dial, Edgar Mason, Robert Stratton, Tyler White, William Valentine, Shane Ammons and Rafael Sosa Jr.
