Edison
A Greenwood man faces the highest level rape charge, after allegedly committing the crime at gunpoint.
Kenji M. Edison, 42, is charged with rape as a level 1 felony, battery as a level 6 felony and a misdemeanor charge of interfering with the report of a crime.
The incident occurred in March 2019, but charges were not filed until Feb. 15. The case has been under investigation since the incident. One reason charges were not filed sooner is because of how long it takes physical evidence such as rape kits to be processed at the state police lab, a process that takes months, sometimes years.
Edison was arrested on a warrant on Feb. 17, and he appeared for an initial hearing late last week.
Greenwood Police learned of the alleged crime after a witness reported she saw a woman with apparent facial injuries get dumped out of a vehicle in the 1000 block of West Stones Crossing Road. At the scene, the woman told police she was raped by a Black male and gave a description of the man, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The witness followed the vehicle that the woman was dumped out of for a distance but eventually lost it. The witness gave a partial plate number that police identified with help from another witness who separately took down the plate number and vehicle description. Police found the vehicle parked at Edison’s Greenwood residence in the 1900 block of Evergold Circle. The woman later confirmed Edison was the attacker after police showed her a photo of him, the affidavit says.
The woman reported Edison picked her up at her home and eventually ended up at Forest Lawn Cemetery, where he sexually assaulted her at gunpoint. When she struggled and attempted to call 911, Edison beat her, resulting in the injuries, the affidavit says.
When police spoke to Edison he claimed it was a consensual three-way involving another woman and blamed the woman reporting the crime, claiming she was the one who was violent. Police noted in their report Edison did not have any apparent injuries.
The other woman’s story matched Edison’s, however when police asked her to give a physical and clothing description of the woman reporting the crime, she was unable to give an accurate description, the affidavit says.
A witness who saw the woman get picked up at her home reported Edison was alone when he picked her up, despite Edison’s story and the other woman’s, the affidavit says.
Non-emergency help dealing with sexual assault resources is available at Franklin-based ASSIST Indiana at 317-739-4456, for a complete list of resources from the Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault and Human Trafficking, or ICESAHT, visit icesaht.org/get-help/. For emergency help dealing with sexual assault call or text 911 to report the crime.
