Jury finds man not guilty of rape, kidnapping

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A former Delaware County man was found not guilty of rape and kidnapping after a trial in Delaware County Common Pleas Court last week.

Wesley Paul Hadsell, 39, stood trial last week and faced two counts of rape, which are first-degree felonies; a charge of kidnapping, also a first-degree felony; and a charge of felonious assault, a second-degree felony.

The charges were originally levelled against him in 2005, and court documents alleged that in August 2005, Hadsell restrained, raped and harmed a woman.

The trial lasted three days in Delaware County Common Pleas Court, and ultimately, Hadsell was found not guilty of the rape and kidnapping charges, but he was found guilty to a lesser included offense of the felonious assault charge — a misdemeanor assault charge.

Court documents report Hadsell was sentenced to community control for the assault charge and ordered to serve six months in the Delaware County Jail.

Hadsell was in the Delaware County Jail Tuesday.

Since July 2017, Hadsell has been represented by Delaware attorney Brian G. Jones.

“We’re pleased with the result from the jury,” Jones said Wednesday. “It’s unfortunate that the county would spend county money on something that was dismissed once. Fortunately justice prevailed.”

Hadsell was originally indicted on the charges in 2005, but that case was dismissed after Hadsell was indicted in U.S. District Court for a bank robbery charge. He was later sentenced to 54 months in jail for a bank robbery in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Hadsell has also been sentenced to 20 years in prison in Virginia on federal ammunition charges, unrelated to these charges. According to Hampton Roads-based newspaper The Virginian-Pilot, Hadsell pleaded guilty to a charge of illegal purchase of ammunition in November 2015. The Virginian-Pilot reports that despite being a convicted felon, Hadsell purchased Winchester .40-caliber and Luger 9mm ammunition in December 2013.

The Virginian-Pilot also reports that Hadsell confessed to going to a gun range in Chesapeake, Virginia, and firing some of the ammo.

Hadsell appealed the 20 year sentence and in 2017 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Hadsell should not have recieved more than 10 years in prison for the charge and ordered Hadsell be re-sentenced in the case. A new sentencing has not yet taken place.

Hadsell
http://www.delgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2018/06/web1_hadsell-mug-new.jpgHadsell

By Glenn Battishill

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Glenn Battishill can be reached at 740-413-0903 or on Twitter @BattishillDG.

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