Prosecutor labels former cop ‘prolific serial rapist’
Documents detail additional counts; Edwards now faces 24 charges; six victims reported
Trending
WARREN -- Former Warren police officer Michael Edwards Jr. faced his third arraignment in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Wednesday, with court documents filed by the prosecutor in the case accusing him of possibly being "the most prolific serial rapist in Trumbull County history."
The 43-year-old appeared alongside his attorney, Dominic Vitantonio, for a brief hearing before Judge Cynthia Rice and pleaded not guilty to a superseding indictment released Tuesday, which added additional charges of rape, bringing the charge count to 24 and the victim count to six.
Vitantonio and county Assistant Prosecutor Gabe Wildman agreed to have another hearing to address three motions he had filed, one of which calls for separate trials for four victims previously identified in an indictment by a set of initials. Wildman contested the idea in his response to the defense's motion.
Another hearing has been scheduled for May 9.
Court documents revealed details of the alleged encounters, including forcibly touching victims' breasts, buttocks and genitalia, as well as coercing them into various sex acts.
Additionally, the documents allege repeated contact with a victim during the summer and fall of 2023, involving stalking and soliciting sexually explicit photos.
Warren police Chief Eric Merkel during a January news conference said the case initially came to light when a woman from Warren reported an "inappropriate relationship" with Edwards on Jan. 20, which had occurred while he was on duty the day before.
At the time of the revelation of the misconduct from Edwards, Merkel said the department thought the alleged criminal charges were a "one-time incident." Merkel commended the original victim for coming forward while the chief urged others who may have encountered Edwards to also report to authorities.
The initial victim's accusations led to an investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and resulted in Edwards' arrest on two counts of rape and two counts of aggravated burglary with firearm specifications.
During his first arraignment, Wildman estimated the possibility of up to five victims. Despite arguments from Edwards' attorney for a bond reduction, citing removal of firearms from Edwards' residence and difficulties in consulting with his client, Wildman opposed the reduction and cited overwhelming evidence.
Wildman outlined that threats to one of the women from Edwards included threats regarding the custody of her child through the Warren Solace Center, that he would tell the organization that "she's engaged in prostitution and that she's a drug addict if she doesn't comply with his sexual advances."
At that hearing Wildman said, "Knowing that, she surreptitiously sets up a cellphone in her hotel room on a day when he says he will be back," Wildman said, adding the woman captured most of the sex acts on the video.
Wildman said BCI investigators confirmed Edwards' DNA was found in the hotel room toilet, and he denied entering the room when initially questioned.
"The only element that I believe is in question, as to her (victim), is force," Wildman said.
The first date Wildman references, Jan. 14, is connected to the extortion accusation that the state presented. Jan. 19 is the day that Wildman alleged Edwards returned and was recorded.
In the following weeks, two new victims were named in an amended indictment, which also added charges of gross sexual imposition, menacing by stalking and attempted gross sexual imposition, each with a firearm specification.
That led to the second arraignment in which Edwards pleaded not guilty to charges against him.
On March 30, Edwards' wife, Taylor Edwards, a former city police officer, resigned from the police department amid allegations of collaboration with her husband in the case. Her resignation effectively halted an internal investigation into her conduct, which included accusations of soliciting deputies with the Trumbull County Sheriff's Office to approach and secretly record witnesses involved in the case.
Wildman also said the prosecutor's office has discovered jail phone records between Edwards and his wife in which they are accused of talking violently about the woman.
"We want to talk about threats of force between, many of these calls, while she is on duty as a Warren officer, speak of this victim and hoping she overdoses and dies, that they pray for this every night, hopes she gets hit by a bus and run over by an 18-wheeler. This is how these two Warren police officers are talking about an alleged victim in a sexual assault case," Wildman said.
Have an interesting story? Contact Chris McBride at cmcbride@tribtoday.com. Follow us on X, formerly Twitter, @TribToday.