The man accused of raping a female patient in October 2007, at Edgewood Riverview Nursing Home in Lucasville, appeared in the courtroom of Scioto County Common Pleas Judge Howard Harcha III Thursday, and discovered the single-count indictment against him has been superseded by a 12-count indictment.

Jenkins sat silently next to his attorney, James Banks of Columbus, and listened as Harcha asked if he wanted to waive the 24-hour rule, which begins when he receives a copy of his indictment. Banks replied in the affirmative, then entered a not-guilty plea.

Jenkins received the indictment when he arrived in the courtroom, where case No. 196 was transferred to 572, to reflect the additional counts.

Assistant Scioto County prosecutor Pat Apel asked the original bo,,nd arrangement of $50,000 cash or surety and $50,000 on his own recognizance be continued. Jenkins is out on bond as he goes through the various stages of his case.

"What we have done here is superseded the original indictment that was a one-count indictment of rape," Apel said at the conclusion of the hearing. "We have superseded that indictment to add different acts that occurred on the same date and at the same time. This is still about the one charge."

He said the state also pleaded in the alternative, "which means you plead under one statute, then you plead again under another statute."

Apel also said one act may violate several statutes, so the prosecution puts all of the statutes in the charge.

"For example, you might have rape by force, rape of a disabled person, then there are the acts themselves," he said. "You can charge for different sexual acts."

Apel said all of the counts are attached to the same crime.

"It is still the same act, but it just brings a broader indictment before the court," he said. "A lot of times it gives the jury the opportunity to decide."

The charges stem from a report that came into Scioto County Sheriff's Office on Oct. 28, 2007, a female patient at Edgewood Riverview Nursing Home had been sexually assaulted by a member of the nursing staff.

Scioto County Sheriff Marty V. Donini said deputies responded to the hospital, where the patient had been taken, made a report and sent that report to Scioto County Sheriff's detectives.

Donini said detectives forwarded what evidence they collected to the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation for testing.

When the results of that testing were made available to detectives, Jenkins was arrested and kept at Scioto County Jail until bonding out.

Harcha told Jenkins and Banks a date will be set for a pretrial conference, "probably some time after the 30th."

FRANK LEWIS can be reached at (740) 353-3101, ext. 232.