MOUNDSVILLE - It's been nearly a year since Roy Reed Sheldon was arrested for and charged with the alleged sexual assault of a mentally incapacitated woman.
In that time, the assisted-living facility where the alleged assault took place has been closed, the alleged victim has been moved down state, and Sheldon has been freed from incarceration on a reduced bond of $10,000.
Marshall County Assistant Prosecutor Stephen Taylor is pursuing a plea in the case. This week, Taylor told Marshall County Circuit Judge Mark A. Karl that a plea agreement has been presented to Sheldon.
"The defendant will be accepting one of two plea options that have been offered," Taylor said.
Sheldon's attorney, David Zehnder, agreed with that statement. Zehnder told the judge he did need some additional time to review the plea with Sheldon and that the plea agreement needs to be reduced to writing.
The judge scheduled Sheldon to return to court at 1:15 p.m. Oct. 6 to enter a plea.
Sheldon was arrested Sept. 19, 2007, after a 57-year-old female told an adult probation services worker that Sheldon touched her inappropriately and had sex with her in the Dora Allietta Memorial Home in Moundsville.
At the time, investigators said Sheldon claimed the sex was consensual. However, they added that the alleged victim has the mental capacity of a 2-year-old and cannot consent to sex.
Sheldon was residing at the facility with his wife, who worked there.
In November, Karl ordered the home to be shut down on a petition from the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. In that petition, surveyors of the home reported residents were not being cared for properly. They said the home had an inadequate food supply, was "extremely unsanitary," that residents were being verbally abused, medication was not being administered according to doctors' orders, medication was not locked up, personal hygiene products were not available and that residents were using soiled bed linens, bedding and clothing.