Man accused of carving initials into woman's ankle

January 15, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

A Weston Avenue man was arraigned in municipal court Wednesday on charges he beat a woman Saturday and carved his initials into her ankle.

Judge Robert Milich set bond at $10,000 for James Rhodes, 42, who was initially arraigned on a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence Monday.

But prosecutors filed an upgraded, more-serious charge Tuesday because of the injuries of the victim, said Assistant City Prosecutor Shelli Freeze.

Rhodes said via video hookup from the Mahoning County jail that the woman he is accused of harming actually harmed herself.

Police were called to Rhodes’ home about 4:15 a.m. for a fight between a man and a woman. Reports said when they got there, Rhodes was the person who called 911, and he told them he was being attacked with glass and a hammer, and that he was arguing with his live-in girlfriend.

Reports said when Rhodes arrived home, he told officers he found out his girlfriend had performed a sex act on a man for money, so he made his girlfriend and another woman perform the same sex act on him. Rhodes told police the woman then became upset and smashed herself in the head with a mirror.

The woman told police that she denied performing a sex act for money earlier in the day, and she submitted to Rhodes’ demand voluntarily because she wanted to be in an exclusive relationship with him. She said the pair argued and Rhodes punched her in the face several times until she was able to escape into another room.

Reports said the girlfriend had Rhodes’ initials carved into her ankle. Rhodes told police and repeated in court Wednesday that his girlfriend carved the initials into her ankle by herself and that she also hit herself with glass.

Police said in their reports that the injuries sustained by the girlfriend could have only come from closed fists, and Freeze said the girlfriend had a broken nose.

Rhodes was taken to the jail on a charge of domestic violence while his girlfriend was treated at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital.