WALTON MAN CONVICTED OF ATTEMPTED RAPE & DOMESTIC BATTERY

05/13/2021

LOGANSPORT – Noah Schafer, the Cass County Prosecuting Attorney, announced that Dennis Toops, 44, of Walton, Indiana, was found guilty by a twelve person jury of attempted rape, confinement and domestic battery in a verdict taken Thursday afternoon.  

The conviction followed a four day trial in which the jury heard evidence that the victim fled naked and bleeding from Toops’ home in Walton with only her purse shortly after midnight on March 17th, 2019.  After driving straight to the Cass County Sheriff’s Department, the victim was transported to first Logansport Memorial Hospital then Arnett Clinic in Lafayette for examination by a forensic nurse.  Examinations revealed that the defendant had assaulted and attempted to rape the victim, who sustained multiple injuries to her body including a dozen to her head, and a displaced fracture of her nose.  DNA evidence presented at trial confirmed that bite marks on the victim’s body were caused by the defendant.

The defendant testified that the victim simply “liked rough sex,” and that the injuries sustained by the victim were either self-inflicted or sustained in a scuffle in which he was defending himself.  Other evidence revealed the victim to be less than five feet tall, while Mr. Toops admitted he was 6’2” and two hundred and sixty-five pounds at the time of the incident.  Although he testified in support of his version of events, during cross examination the defendant was unable to explain substantial inconsistencies with the version he gave to law enforcement shortly after the incident.

Mr. Toops is scheduled to be sentenced on June 10, 2021.  He faces up to sixteen years incarceration on the attempted rape conviction.

Prosecutor Noah Schafer personally presented the case with the assistance of Deputy Prosecutor AJ Ennis.  Schafer commented regarding the outcome: “We’re very pleased with the verdict.  As usual, we’re gratified by the service of our fellow citizens who served as jurors, and we are very proud of the victim for her courage both in resisting her attacker and in telling her story.  She is a shining example to all survivors of sexual assault and domestic battery.