Man accused of raping girl with disability wants statements suppressed

A Dayton man indicted on charges accusing him of raping a girl younger than 10 years old with a disability is asking a judge to bar the use of anything he said to police.

Michael Luther, 34, was indicted on four counts of rape and 18 counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor. The case is in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, and Luther is currently in jail on $500,000 bond.

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He is due back in court on June 16 for a hearing about the use of statements made by Luther to police.

A statement of facts filed in the case says Dayton police began an investigation when they were given a computer memory card with child pornography on it found in a puddle outside a bingo hall.

“The adult male had a definitive tattoo on the arm throughout some of the pictures,” the statement of facts said.

Using the evidence, officers were able to locate the address where the rapes allegedly occurred, the court document says, and the girl’s mother was able to identify her daughter, who uses a wheelchair.

The mother also was able to identify Luther in the video, the statement says.

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“Detectives … located Michael Luther, who admitted during an interview that he has raped the juvenile six-seven times when she was under 10 years of age and took pictures as well as video of the incident,” the statement says.

And it’s these statements that Luther’s defense team hopes to suppress.

A motion filed earlier this month says Luther wasn’t informed of his Miranda rights before he spoke with authorities.

“Defendant maintains that all statements claimed to (have been) made by the defendant were not voluntarily, intelligently and knowingly made,” the motion to suppress statements says. “Any statements made by defendant in response to an interrogation must be suppressed.”

A response from the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office hasn’t been filed in the case.

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