A sexual assault victim’s persistence bore fruit Tuesday when a Logan County grand jury handed up an indictment charging a Bellefontaine man with three counts of rape and three counts of sexual battery.
Eli Carter, 41, is accused of repeated sexual conduct with the victim between 2007 and 2010, starting when she was 17.
She was a member of Carter’s household.
Carter was a counselor with Adriel Schools at the time and served as a foster parent.
The alleged conduct occurred in Logan and Champaign counties, according to Logan County Prosecutor Eric Stewart.
The victim first filed allegations of the sexual assaults with the Bellefontaine Police Department in 2010 after she was enrolled in college. Investigative work on the case stagnated until she inquired about its status in 2017.
This reignited efforts in the case but there was no breakthrough until 2020. Evidence corroborating her claims was uncovered last year enabling Stewart’s office to present the case to a grand jury.
Carter recently resigned from his position as the long-time director of Union Station and as a varsity girls basketball coach at Calvary Christian Schools.
He is currently lodged in the Logan County Jail.