DARKE COUNTY — A man accused of sexually assaulting two teenage girls in Darke County is pleading guilty to charges.
Brandon Smathers, 33, was indicted in two separate cases in both January and December 2023. This week, he pleaded guilty to one count of rape and felonious assault in one case, and to one count of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor in the other, according to Darke County Common Pleas Court records.
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As part of a plea agreement, one count of attempted rape, four counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, and three counts of sexual battery were dismissed in the first case. In the second case, three counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor were dismissed.
Smathers was accused of sexually assaulting two 14-year-old girls. One was assaulted between December 2021 and September 2022, while the other reported being assaulted between January 2022 and May 2022, according to court records.
Smathers was known to both victims.
He is scheduled to be sentenced later this month.