Competency evaluation ordered for rape suspect

LISBON - A Salem man accused of having sexual contact with a child beginning at the age of 6 and continuing until she was 13 has been ordered evaluated for competency to stand trial and ability to plead insanity.

John Cope, 37, of 346 W. Wilson St., remains charged with rape, a first-degree felony, and gross sexual imposition, a third-degree felony.

Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge David Tobin asked the Forensic Psychiatric Center of Northeast Ohio to conduct the evaluation as a result of Cope's attorney filing a motion for Cope to plead not guilty by reason of insanity.

Court documents alleged Cope had sexual contact with the girl from 2000 and continuing on multiple occasions until 2006 at Salem residences on East Fourth Street and West Wilson Street. The rape charge stemmed from alleged sexual conduct with the girl from 2003 continuing until May 2006 at the residence on West Wilson Street.

Also in Common Pleas Court:

The indictment against Carolyn Dennis, 46, of Steubenville, for theft and illegal processing of drug documents, both fourth-degree felonies, was dismissed since she successfully completed her intervention contract. Dennis had been ordered to complete intervention in lieu of conviction for her sentence after pleading guilty to the charges. Documents said she stole Roxicet and Vicodin from a locked contingency cabinet at Calcutta Health Care Center on Bell School Road and manipulated pharmaceutical records from Nov. 9, 2002 through April 20, 2003. Her attorney will file paperwork to have her record expunged.