Matthew T. Hale

After a woman told the Bowling Green Police Department she woke up with a man on top of her engaging in a sex act, police charged the man with first-degree rape.

Matthew Timothy Hale, 22, 349 Audley Ave., Apt. 1, was charged Tuesday with rape. He admitted he initiated sex with the woman while she was asleep, saying he’d made a mistake, according to records.

A preliminary hearing in the case was set for 9 a.m. Friday during a hearing Wednesday in Warren District Court.

Hale is accused of raping the woman visiting his home July 6, according to the criminal complaint against Hale.

The woman told police Sunday she visited Hale on July 5 and played cards with two other people. Hale told the woman she could sleep in his bed and he would sleep on the living room floor, according to the complaint.

The woman fell asleep and woke up between midnight and 7 a.m. July 6 with Hale on top of her. She told Hale to stop and said he ignored her, continuing to engage in sexual intercourse for 10 to 15 minutes against the woman’s will, according to the complaint.

The woman told police she waited to report the incident because she wanted to try to forget about it.

Hale told BGPD Officer Ryan Dillon that he let the woman stay with him for two weeks and that the two slept in the same bed during her stay but did not have sex, according to the criminal complaint. Hale initially told Dillon he performed two consensual sex acts on the woman. 

He later told Dillon that what occurred was not consensual, according to the complaint.

“Hale advised Officer Dillon that (the woman) was asleep when he started having sexual intercourse with her,” according to the complaint. “Hale apologized and advised Officer Dillon that he made a mistake.”

Hale is in Warren County Regional Jail in lieu of a $25,000 cash bond.

Delayed sexual assault reporting is not uncommon, and victims have a variety of reasons for waiting to report incidents to police, said Melissa Whitley, executive director of Hope Harbor, the area’s rape crisis center. Whitley was not talking specifically about this case.

“In working with sexual assault survivors, we really see that delayed reporting is not uncommon,” she said. “It’s more common than uncommon. 

“People have concerns for safety reasons. Other reasons might be the stereotypes that have been created about sexual assault or the blame placed upon the victim for the sexual assault occurring. We see sexual assault survivors here at Hope Harbor who have experienced sexual assault as a teen or child and don’t disclose until they’re an adult. We see that unfortunately a lot,” Whitley said. 

“Depending on who that perpetrator is, it can be harder to make that report,” she said.

— Follow Assistant City Editor Deborah Highland on Twitter at twitter.com/BGDNCrimebeat or visit bgdailynews.com.