A city man — who was released pending court hearings on 2019 rape charges — was again arrested for sexually abusing a second woman last week and released, according to court documents.
Caden L. Ross, 19, of 11 1/2 Hyatt Street was released on his own recognizance during a Cortland City Court hearing on Sept. 16, according to court records.
Ross was arrested for sexually touching an unconscious woman on July 15, according to the documents. At the time, Ross was free pending a hearing on his July 2019 felony charges of two counts of first-degree rape, according to Cortland City Court records.
Ross denied sexually abusing the woman in the 2020 case, according to his sworn statement to the Cortland Police Department.
After Ross rented a room at a city hotel on Sept. 13, two male friends and a woman came to the hotel to visit, drink and smoke marijuana, Ross told police. The woman took some Xanax, as well, and then laid down on the bed in the hotel room, he told Lt. Michael Strangeway.
Xanax is a drug that induces sedation and sleep, and can create the feelings of calmness and euphoria, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The woman told Strangeway in her own sworn statement that she accidentally fell asleep and woke up to discover Ross in bed with her, stroking her vagina.
“When I woke up, my pants were pulled down to my ankles,” she stated. “I jumped out of bed, pulled up my pants and went outside.”
The woman stated she never gave Ross permission to touch her and she was never romantically involved with him, according to her sworn statement.
“Since this happened Caden has been contacting me through Facebook and Instagram and apologizing for what happened,” she told Strangeway, adding Ross stated he was drunk. “There is no excuse for what Caden did to me and I desire prosecution against Caden Ross for taking advantage of me and touching me inappropriately.”
Ross admitted to police in his statement that he climbed into bed with the woman, after his male friends left, and asked her for sex. Ross told police he did not touch her and that she was awake.
In addition to last week’s charge of felony first-degree sexual abuse, Ross is also facing two felony, first-degree rape charges after police arrested Ross for physically overpowering and raping another intoxicated woman in 2019, according to police and court documents.
Ross was released on his own recognizance in that case when he was rearrested Sept. 15, according to court documents.
The 2019 case is still pending in Cortland City Court. District Attorney Patrick Perfetti recused himself from prosecuting the case, and attorney Edward Goehler was named as the special prosecutor, according to court documents.
Ross was once again released after his appearance Sept. 16 in Cortland City Court.
