Registered sex offender/firefighter accused of groping fire victim. Woman says it happened after fire outside her Fairfield County, SC home.
WIS-TV is reporting that a Fairfield County, South Carolina volunteer firefighter, who is a registered sex offender, has been jailed on charges of groping a legally blind woman whose fence caught fire on Saturday. The TV station reports the sexual assault occurred when Ralph Marthers brought a fire report to the woman's home.
"I laid the report on the table," said the victim. "He proceeded to put his hand down my shirt and pinched my left breast. I slapped his hand away, then he proceeded to put his hand up my gown, from the bottom and I slapped his hand away again."
"I looked over and he had his private parts in his hand… and I told him no and I used a few choice words and told him he better get out of my house before I shoot him."
Reporter Jody Barr asked the chief of the Community Volunteer Fire Department if officials knew that Marthers was on the state's sex offender registry after a 1997 conviction of committing a lewd act on a minor. The chief didn't comment on that. Marthers, 51, has been on the department for about 25 years. He was suspended after Monday's arrest.
