All schools in Upshur County will close at 1 p.m. today. All B-UHS sporting events today are canceled.

Buckhannon man arrested on more than 30 counts of felony sexual assault

BUCKHANNON – An Upshur County man was arrested recently for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman approximately 35 times.

Clinton Walton, 38, of Buckhannon, was arrested Friday, Nov. 17, on 35 counts of first-degree sexual assault, a felony.

According to the criminal complaint in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office filed by Cpl. F.J. Turansky with the Buckhannon detachment of the West Virginia State Police, on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2022, Turansky was contacted by a female subject in reference to sexual assault.

The victim told Turansky that on several occasions while the two were married, Walton allegedly forcibly raped her. According to the report, the last time this occurred was in 2022, but she told police she had only recently had the mental fortitude to come forward to authorities.

The victim said Walton had allegedly raped her approximately 35 times at her residence in Upshur County between 2017-2022. According to the report, Walton’s alleged actions caused her to experience internal bleeding.

During the investigation, Turansky conducted an interview with Walton, during which he allegedly admitted he had been verbally abusive during their relationship. When asked what he thought the allegations were, he stated, “She’s probably going to say I forced sex on her.”

According to the report, Walton told police that when the couple would get into fights, the victim’s way of allegedly rectifying the conflict would be to allow Walton to “have his way with her.” Walton also allegedly admitted that the couple’s sexual role play was “forceful,” and the victim would often be crying, stating she was in pain and asking him to stop more than once, according to the complaint.

Walton also allegedly admitted that “there was blood most of the time.”

When asked why he didn’t stop after she asked, he initially stated he didn’t stop because “he felt she wanted him to be satisfied no matter what it took.”

When asked a second time, Walton allegedly told police, “Because I’m a piece of [expletive] … I should have stopped.”

Upshur County Magistrate Alan Suder set bail at $100,000 cash or surety in addition to ordering home confinement.

The potential penalty for each count of first-degree sexual is imprisonment in a state penitentiary for not less than 15 or more than 35 years or a fine of not less than $1,000 or more than $10,000 and confinement in prison for 15-35 years.

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