Second-degree rape trial of Port Angeles man set in November

Published 12:01 am Sunday, August 30, 2015

PORT ANGELES — A Port Angeles man accused of raping a woman who uses a wheelchair faces a November trial in Clallam County Superior Court.

Rodney Charles Bright, 49, was charged July 24 with second-degree rape, forcible compulsion, with the aggravated circumstance of a vulnerable victim.

His trial was moved from Sept. 14 to Nov. 2 on Friday because the case is still under investigation.

Port Angeles police said Bright approached a woman as she was wheeling up the 200 block of South Lincoln Street and offered her assistance July 20.

Bright allegedly pushed the woman behind a nearby building and sexually assaulted her, according to the arrest report.

Bright was being issued a warning for trespassing at the Texaco station at 210 E. First St. three days after the alleged rape when a private citizen told police the woman had been assaulted by Bright.

Police interviewed the alleged victim and arrested Bright at the gas station.

Bright is also charged in a separate case with second-degree possession of stolen property for allegedly stealing a debit card June 20.

He is scheduled to go to trial in that case Oct. 12.

Superior Court Judge Christopher Melly on Friday set an Oct. 2 status hearing on both matters.

Bright is being held in the Clallam County jail on $50,000 bail.