MARION, OH (MARION COUNTY NOW)—In a rare move, Marion County Sheriff Matt Bayles issued the following statement:
“I would like to address a few issues reference the Brendan Damron case.
His attorney, Joel Spitzer, sent me an email asking that we recuse our office from the case. We will not be doing that. This crime happened in Marion County in our jurisdiction. The detectives working on the case have over 40 years’ experience between them and have no ties to the Marion Police Department. I have the utmost trust in their abilities, and the investigation is well underway.
Mr. Spitzer has already involved the media in this case by releasing a few, of the many, text messages between the suspect and victim. Some of which are taken, or can be taken, out of context unless you know the rest of the messages and the reasons or information behind them.
In my opinion, this is a clear attempt to “victim blame” and to pass the blame onto the victim in this case which frankly disgusts me. No means no. I hear all the time that rape victims are afraid to come forward because they are afraid of something like this happening. I am immensely proud of the victim in this case for coming forward and the courage she showed in doing so.
Between this involvement with the media and the fact that I got the recusal request from Mr. Spitzer at approximately 9:30 at night and by the time I woke up in the morning it was already on social media, it is obvious to me that Mr. Spitzer is attempting to try this case in the press and social media. I ask him not to do that and allow twelve jury members in Marion, Ohio, to hear ALL the evidence on the case and decide based on that.