It was decided Monday afternoon that James William Hastings is a potential danger to the women of Butler County, and he will face trial on the charge of first degree rape/attempted rape.
Butler County prosecuting attorney Hannah Pender made that objection when a bond request was made, noting that a total of five women in Butler County currently have orders of protection against Hastings. She said she believes he presents a clear danger, in addition to being a flight risk.
Judge Wade Pierce denied bond and bound the case over for trial after hearing from prosecution and defense attorneys, as well as witnesses.
The alleged rape occurred on July 16, 2019. It was reported to the sheriff’s department July 17, 2019.
Hastings was arrested five years later, in April, after the results of DNA evidence were gathered from a rape kit that was administered at the time.
The Butler County Sheriff’s Department reported that it received confirmation April 9 from the Missouri State Highway Patrol Crime Lab that the submitted DNA was an “exact match to” Hastings.
During the preliminary hearing, the accuser testified that Hastings had severely beaten her over the course of multiple days and had also raped her in her home. She testified that she and Hastings had a previous relationship and that at the time of the incident, she had an order of protection against him.
During cross examination, Hastings’ attorney Steve Walsh questioned the reported timeline of the victim’s relationship with Hastings and went on to question the veracity of her testimony and the timing of her report.
Walsh asked and received confirmation from the witness that the sheriff’s department had been called on Hastings multiple times before the alleged incident.
“So, you were aware of how to contact the sheriff’s department and get help,” Walsh asked. “Why didn’t you do so when you had the chance?”
The victim said she hadn’t thought to make a report at that time because she was in shock from all of the abuse she had sustained throughout the incidents and only went to file a report after being advised to do so when she spoke to her lawyer.
“When you’re in shock after a trauma, you don’t always make the best decisions,” she noted. “I have had to go to counseling because of this and I have tried to block every memory of it from my mind.”
Walsh questioned whether or not the victim had continued to be in a relationship with Hastings at the time the alleged incident occurred. Walsh later called Chuck Raulston to the stand to testify for the defense regarding the timeline of events.
Raulston was the landlord who owned property Hastings and the victim had lived in. He testified there were at least four occasions when Butler County deputies had been called out to the residence due to fighting. When asked about his understanding of when Hastings was no longer a resident at the home, Raulston stated it could have been as late as August 2019.
“I remember that he was completely gone from there around the beginning or middle of August,” Raulston noted.
During cross examination, Pender asked Raulston whether or not his wife had been “good friends” with Hastings’ sister during that time frame. Raulston admitted that she had been.
Walsh also called Butler County Sheriff’s Department Capt. Randall Huddleston to the stand. Huddleston had been involved with the investigation of the reported rape. Huddleston admitted that he had informed the accuser that he could only help her if she was being completely honest.
“I said that because I had dealt with her and Mr. Hastings before,” he stated. “And she had lied about him to get him into trouble before.”
Huddleston stated approximately one month before the alleged rape, he had responded to the residence and advised that either the victim or Hastings should leave the property.
In questioning from Pender, the accuser said she had bruises, contusions and a burn happening following the alleged July 16, 2019, incident. She was seen July 17 at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center’s emergency room, where a rape exam was conducted, according to the testimony.
Hastings is now scheduled to appear for arraignment at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27, before Judge Kacey Proctor.
No additional information was included in the testimony regarding the other orders of protection. The Daily American Republic reached out Tuesday afternoon to the Butler County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office but had not received a response as of press time regarding whether or not additional cases or charges are being sought against Hastings.