The Murray Ledger & Times reports that 25-year-old Dannis Lee Seay appeared in front of Judge James T Jameson Tuesday for his arraignment on a charge of first-degree rape/incapable of consent-physically helpless.
Seay is a former Murray State cheerleader and a current student at Murray State.
Seay, who is a native of Lexington, was indicted by a Calloway County Grand Jury in May. The indictment states that "on or around March 22, in Calloway County, (Seay) committed the offense of first degree rape when he engaged in sexual intercourse with the alleged victim, who was incapable of consent because she was physically helpless, in violation of Kentucky Revised Statute 510.040."
Seay was represented by attorney Kevin Bishop of Mayfield, and entered a not guilty plea. He will appear in Calloway Circuit Court on September 5 for a status hearing.
In Kentucky rape in the first degree is a Class B felony.
"It's worth 10-20 years in prison, so it's serious stuff, no question about it" said Calloway Commonwealth Attorney Dennis Foust. "The next step for us is to provide discovery (a legal term for evidence in a case) to his attorney, then we'll be able to start talking about whether we can work something out or not. With a serious matter like this, it may very well be that we have to go to trial, but we'll have to see what happens."
Murray State Director of Communications, Shawn Touney, issued a statement Wednesday.
"Tuesday, the university was made aware of an alleged off-campus incident involving a student. The university has no further comment" he said.
Touney did confirm that Seay was a member of the cheer squad during the 2018-19 academic year.
On the Net:
Former Murray State cheerleader faces rape charge in alleged March incident
