Trial starts today for man accused for raping 4 women in Middletown and Hamilton
Sep. 27—The trial of a Butler County man accused of raping four women in 2019 and 2020 is scheduled to begin today.
Taranpreet Singh, 31, of Village Drive in Middletown, was taken into custody Feb. 19 and charged with two counts of rape, aggravated robbery and kidnapping for incidents that allegedly happened in September 2019 and August 2020, according to Hamilton police.
A week later, Singh was also indicted for a rape and kidnapping that happened on April 2, 2020 in Middletown, according court records and a police report. The indicted charges against Singh are rape, kidnapping and assault for a Sept. 4 to 5, 2019 crime; rape and kidnapping with gun specifications for a Aug 23, 2020 crime; and kidnapping and rape for the April 2, 2020 crime.
A fourth count of rape against Singh was added in March in a superseding indictment. The rape is alleged to have occurred in Hamilton between Sept. 1 and Sept. 30 of 2019, according to the court documents.
Singh has been held in the Butler County Jail since his arrest in lieu of $450,000 bond.
According to Hamilton police, Singh picked up the women and then allegedly forced them to engage in sex with him.
On Sept. 5, 2019, a woman reported she was offered a ride from Circle K on Pleasant Avenue. She said the man stopped the vehicle on East Avenue and dragged her by the hair into an abandoned building and raped her, according to the report.
In the Aug. 23, 2020 incident, a woman said she was forced into a vehicle on East Avenue, held against her will at gunpoint and sexually assaulted, according to the report.
On April 2, 2020, a woman reported to Middletown police that she was sexually assaulted at about 9:10 p.m. at Central Avenue and Carmody Boulevard across from Bicentennial Commons, according to the report.
Butler County Common Pleas Judge Michael Oster has ordered 60 perspective jurors to appear for jury selection this morning. The trial is expected to last five days.
