A judge denied requests to relax the conditions of house arrest for former Covington Catholic basketball player Jacob Walter, accused of committing a violent rape.
The only exception, the judge conceded, will be when the judge receives the address and times of service for the church Walter requested the ability to attend. Once his attorneys submit these details, Walter will be permitted to attend church.
Walter was arrested Dec. 11, 2018, on felony charges of rape and sodomy. He has since remained on house arrest at the home of his father, former Bengal Joe Walter, and is scheduled to stand trial in June 2020.
According to court documents, the 7-foot-tall, 300-pound Walter held the victim down, choked her and ignored her pleas to stop, leaving her bruised and bleeding by the time her mother called police.
In a motion filed Sept. 20 in Boone County Circuit Court, Walter petitioned the court to allow “some normalcy in his life” ahead of the trial, including:
- Attending a service at First Baptist Church of Dayton each Sunday.
- Attending one private weekly Bible study with his pastor, Harold Pike.
- Visiting his grandparents once a week.
- Going to the gym twice a week, always accompanied by a parent.
- Going on a daily walk around his parents’ subdivision.
- Dining out at restaurants accompanied by one or both parents. (The motion suggests the court establish a particular number of times this would be permitted.)
Walter’s lawyers argue in the motion that because he is innocent until proven guilty, “forcing him into house arrest for another 9-10 months is overly burdensome.”
The 2020 trial will not be the first time Walter faces a rape charge in court. He was registered as a juvenile sex offender after an attack that took place weeks before his 18th birthday, according to court documents.
