Crime & Public Safety
Summers County grand jury returns 394-count superseding indictment in long-running s3x-crimes probe
A Summers County grand jury this week returned a superseding indictment charging a Pipestem man with hundreds of criminal counts stemming from alleged s3x crimes across more than a decade. The indictment names Matthew Keaton, 34, of Pipestem, on 394 counts including s3xual abuse, s3xual assault, strangulation, kidnapping, attempted poisoning and related offenses that prosecutors say involve 27 identified women and 32 Jane Does.
According to the prosecutor’s office, the alleged offenses span an 11-year period from 2010 through 2021. Keaton was first arrested in October 2021 after several women reported being drugged and sexually assaulted while being recorded; an earlier grand jury in November 2022 returned separate indictments on multiple counts. The superseding indictment grew as investigators continued to analyze digital evidence and other records.
Summers County Prosecutor Chris Lefler told reporters that law-enforcement partners — including the state fusion center, the State Police digital lab and the Violent Crime Task Force — assisted in sorting large volumes of data to identify additional victims and to establish times and locations tied to alleged incidents. Lefler said some named victims were identified through facial-recognition leads and that work continues to confirm the identities of remaining Jane Does.
Keaton remains jailed at the Central Regional Jail without bail. The office says he will be arraigned on the new charges in the near future; no trial outcomes or convictions are reported in the indictment filing.
All individuals accused of a crime are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
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All individuals mentioned in criminal allegations are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.