Shocking new details on a story SCDN broke on Wednesday afternoon. We were the first to tell you about the rape and child-endangering arrests for Gary W. Cook of West Portsmouth.
Now, we have the disturbing details of the report that led to Cook’s arrest on four counts of rape.
It all started on Tuesday when a mom contacted the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office to report her young son had been sexually assaulted in Virginia.
The SCSO immediately began an investigation. An SCSO detective teamed up with the Special Victims Unit, and Scioto County Children Services and was soon able to identify four boys under the age of 13. Officials say the boys said they were sexually assaulted in West Portsmouth, Ohio, and in Virginia.
After detectives interviewed multiple victims and witnesses, they obtained a search warrant for a home on Elza Lane in West Portsmouth. Deputies processed the scene and collected several items as evidence.
Additionally, they transported two victims to Adena Regional Medical Center for treatment. The boys were treated and released. According to Sheriff David Thoroughman, several children were taken into custody by Children Services as a result of the investigation. They are currently in foster care.
As we told you yesterday, Officers arrested 36-year-old Gary Cook and charged him with three counts of raping a child under 13 and one count of raping a child under 10, and multiple cases of child endangerment.
Cook is currently held on a $550,000 bond.
