DNA clears Fairborn man of rape charges

A Fairborn man who served more than four months in jail under accusations of rape was freed Tuesday after lab results and an uncooperative alleged victim led prosecutors to drop all felony charges against him.

Sakchai Boonchaliew, 44, was indicted by a Greene County grand jury Jan. 25 on eight counts of rape, a first-degree felony, after a Fairborn police investigation of a woman's claim that Boonchaliew raped her on Jan. 10.

But DNA analysis completed last week concluded that the accuser likely had sex with another man, not Boonchaliew, on Jan. 10, calling into question the accuser's version of events, said Assistant Prosecutor Andrew Hunt.

Hunt also told Judge J. Timothy Campbell that the accuser had become antagonistic and uncooperative with investigators, making it a "serious question" that the state could prove its case.

Boonchaliew did plead no contest to one count of assault, a first-degree misdemeanor, which prosecutors said also stemmed from events on Jan. 10.

Campbell sentenced Boonchaliew to the 132 days he has already served in the Greene County Jail, plus court costs, and ordered that he be released from jail Tuesday.

Boonchaliew's attorney Frank Malocu said his client cooperated fully with the investigation and that a private investigator hired by the defense also uncovered reasons to doubt the accuser.

"With a lot of sex cases, quite frankly, a lot of information is not received by the time the case goes to the grand jury," Malocu said.