Izard County man charged with five counts of rape of incoherent woman

An Izard County man has been charged with five counts of rape. Forty-eight-year-old Jeremy Corlis of Wiseman is accused of raping a woman who was incoherent and very sick before she died.

The investigation into the death of the 38-year-old female led to the charges after officers spoke with those present at the residence.According to the Izard County Sheriff’s Department, those at the residence included Jeremy Corlis, and two others, who advised the victim had been at the residence for a few days when she began to behave strangely and became sick.

The individuals advised the victim’s condition progressively worsened over the course of approximately 48 hours. For the 24 hours prior to her death, she was reportedly incoherent, unable to stand or walk on her own, and unable to talk.The three individuals advised they were “taking care” of the woman by leaving her alone in rooms of the house to “rest”, despite her condition getting worse.

During the course of death investigation, information was obtained indicating the woman had possibly been sexually assaulted prior to her death.

A woman who was at the residence told investigators she witnessed Corlis enter the bedroom in which the victim was lying on the floor, and remain in the bedroom, alone, for approximately 20-30 minutes with the door shut.

The witness said advised during this time, she heard noises in which she described as sounding like someone was “having…sex.” She said the victim was incoherent at this point.

During an interview with Corlis, he confessed to having sexual contact with the victim and described these acts as “foreplay” and “fooling around.”

According to Corlis, the actions occurred between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. on August 28. He described the victim’s mental and physical state at the time of the sexual assault as incoherent, and before and during the assault he believed the victim was attempting to speak, but the noises were inaudible. When asked if he knew if she was saying “yes” or “no”, Corlis replied he was unable to understand what she was saying.

According to Corlis, the victim lost her ability to speak or communicate in any way approximately twenty-four hours prior to the assault.

During a second interview, Corlis also confessed to sexually assaulting the victim three other times in addition to the two incidents in which he had previously confessed. He said he did not think Victim 1 knew what was taking place during the assaults.

Corlis is currently held without bond in the Izard County Detention Center.

The victim’s body was sent to the state crime lab for an official cause of death. A preliminary report shows no trauma to the body that points to foul play.

WebReady^TM Powered by WireReady^® NSI