Samuel Allen Pleads Guilty, Trial Canceled

A Knox man accused of rape in a case that was set for trial on Wednesday in Starke Circuit Court pleaded guilty.

In court documents filed on Wednesday, July 31, 59-year-old Samuel Allen withdrew his plea of not guilty and pleaded guilty to rape as a Level 3 Felony.  The document states that, upon sentencing, a charge of habitual offender sentence enhancement will be dismissed as well as a petition to revoke probation.

The charge stems from an alleged incident on Sept. 19, 2018 at a home on Locust Drive in Knox.  According to police, an unconscious woman who reportedly suffered a drug overdose was found slumped over the steering wheel in her car.  After emergency personnel were able to revive the woman, she was transported to Memorial Hospital in South Bend.  A Knox City Police Department officer noticed signs of possible rape and a kit was collected, according to the report filed in September of 2018.  

A Level 3 Felony carries a sentence of 3 to 16 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections. 

The sentencing hearing is set for Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 11 a.m. CT in Starke Circuit Court.