Domestic Violence

Two Pa. women charged with harassment CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. -  Two women were charged with harassment after a domestic dispute Wednesday at a home in Fayetteville, Pa., Pennsylvania State Police said. Hallie James Degroat, 36, and Virginia Ellen Degroat, 34, were charged with one count each of harassment, according to a state police press release. Troopers allege Virginia Ellen Degroat sprayed mace in the face of Hallie James Degroat as the two engaged in a domestic dispute at about 10:10 p.m. in a home at 4602 Newman Road.

The day was cold and raw, sputtering snow and rain coated the shale outcroppings of the valley with ice. The quiet of Sunday had settled on the little communities that dot Fulton County. Smoke curled upwards from chimneys as folks left church and noon dinner was being prepared. Ricky Hann, a sometime truck driver and general laborer, arrived at the home of his former girlfriend Tina Souders, a respected nurse, shortly before noon. According to news reports, Hann took Tina Souders from her home at gunpoint, in front of her mother and her two sons, ages 12 and 13, marched her into the woods behind their neat white house on Cito Road and killed her with two blasts from his shotgun, then taking his own life.

When 8-year-old Danica walked quietly to the front of the room with her mother and her Women in Need counselor, the crowd grew silent waiting to hear the tiny little girl's survivor's story. Several hundred members of the community, representatives from law enforcement, the legal community and political representatives attended WIN's 19th annual Vigil Against Violence at Wilson College on Thursday. "I had the privilege of working with Danica. There is so much strength in such a little person," said "Miss Tammy," who proceeded to read a book written and illustrated by Danica.

Berkeley County businesses are banding together to help the Shenandoah Women's Center. Lisa Schweiger, a local event planner, is helping to organize a Prom Fashion Show from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday at McFarland House, 409 S. Queen St. in Martinsburg. The event will feature gowns from The Barn dress shop in Bunker Hill, W.Va., and will offer girls a good chance to see some of the latest fashions for upcoming proms and formals, according to Schweiger. Personal Reflections Day Spa of Inwood, W.Va.

A McConnellsburg man faces several criminal charges after allegedly throwing a snowball at a 2001 Chevrolet Cavalier at 1 p.m. Tuesday on U.S. 30 near Sheetz in the borough of McConnellsburg, Pennsylvania State Police said in a news release. Derek James Peck, 29, is charged with domestic violence, theft, reckless endangerment, simple assault and harassment, police said. Police allege Peck threw a snowball at the vehicle in which his ex-girlfriend was riding. He was being held in the Franklin County (Pa.)

An advocate for ending domestic violence called Sunday’s murder-suicide in Fulton County, Pa., “hauntingly familiar” Monday as she talked about other situations in which assailants posted bail and killed shortly thereafter. Judy Yupcavage from the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence said the events in Ayr Township this weekend mirrored recent killings in such Pennsylvania communities as Scranton, New Cumberland and Lebanon. “I couldn’t tell you how many cases where this happened.

Domestic violence and sexual assault are on the rise in the Eastern Panhandle, but funding for victim services has decreased sharply. “Since 2000, the Shenandoah Women’s Center has grown threefold,” said Executive Director Ann K.D. Smith, “but not the funding.” The Shenandoah Women’s Center (SWC) was formed in 1977 to provide services to help victims of violence and sexual assault. Offices are in Martinsburg, Charles Town and Berkeley Springs to help women and men who are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and sexual harassment.

The road from crisis to confidence isn't an easy one — not when you've dealt with years of broken bones, black eyes and a constant litany of verbal threats. It's a road that often takes a lot of twists and turns. But, often, the path leads to CASA (Citizens Assisting and Sheltering the Abused). Here, victims hope to escape a life of uncertainty and beatings and break the cycle of domestic violence. They expect to be welcomed by a group of women who will offer support and counseling through a traumatic experience.

A Pennsylvania man charged with breaking into a woman's house and assaulting her had his bail more than doubled Friday in Washington County District Court after Deputy State's Attorney Joseph Michael said the man's behavior brought to mind past domestic violence cases that ended in murder. "The words of intent are what the state is really concerned with," Michael told District Judge Dana Moylan Wright at the bond review hearing for Jason Wayne Rudisill. "Like the state, I'm concerned about potential risk," said Wright, who raised Rudisill's bail from $350,000 to $750,000.