KY woman arrested for court disturbance
Bowling Green OH July 13 2017
A Kentucky woman was arrested Friday after she allegedly engaged in a disruptive altercation with the victim in a sex case at the Wood County Courthouse.
Nevona Leonard, 67, Lancaster, Kentucky, was taken to the Wood County jail on one count of retaliation. She was not listed in jail this morning, but as late as Monday afternoon had been listed there in lieu of $25,000 bond.
The incident was related to the case of Jordan Haynes, 18, Rossford. During a sentencing hearing Friday morning, Haynes was sentenced to six years in prison on one count of rape, a first-degree felony. The crime is a Tier III sex offense, requiring Haynes to register as a sex offender for his lifetime.
According to a complaint filed in that case, Haynes reportedly “forced the victim to engage in sexual conduct against her will on two occasions” between Nov. 1, 2014, and Feb. 28 2015. At the time, Haynes was reportedly 16 years old and the victim was 15 years old.
The case was originally filed in Wood County Juvenile Court, but was transferred to Wood County Court of Common Pleas in April. A bill of information, charging Haynes with one count of rape and alleging one incident on Nov. 1, 2014, was handed up in the case on May 5. Haynes pleaded guilty to the charge during a hearing on May 15.
According to a report on the Friday incident by Wood County Court Security, at 11:17 a.m., when Reger announced Haynes’ sentence, Haynes’ family members present in the court “became irate and (Leonard) continued to be loud and disruptive.” She was subsequently ordered to be removed from the courtroom by Reger.
In a reported statement made later to an officer, Leonard indicated she is Haynes’ grandmother.
As Leonard was being removed, she allegedly passed by the victim in the case and “reached out and grabbed the victim by the hair and held on as she continued moving and calling her names.” A security officer told Leonard she was under arrest, and she reportedly resisted. The report states that “when we passed the benches” the officer “escorted (Leonard) to the floor where she was placed face down and ordered to put her hands behind her back.”
Leonard was initially placed in a holding cell in the courthouse, and then taken to the Wood County jail.
A preliminary hearing in her case is set for Monday at 9 a.m. in Bowling Green Municipal Court.
