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ELKINS -- The case of a Randolph County woman accused of abusing three children will be brought before a grand jury after she waived her right to a preliminary hearing.
Sara Ravan Daniels, 36, of Elkins, has been charged with three counts of child abuse resulting in injury, a felony, and one count of strangulation, also a felony. She is currently being held in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $30,000 cash-only bond set by Randolph County Magistrate Tracy Harper.
This week, Daniels waived her right to a preliminary hearing in Randolph County Magistrate Court. Her case will now be brought before a Randolph County grand jury for consideration.
Daniels’ attorney, Paul Gwaltney, asked Magistrate Benjamin Shepler to lower and modify Daniel’s bond from a $30,000 cash-only bond to a $5,000 cash, surety or 10% bond. Gwaltney stated that the investigating officer attended the three Child Advocacy Center interviews almost three months ago, but charges were being brought now. He argued that Daniels, who also has a case in the Randolph County Family Court, has been making progress in those three months by finding a job, not missing or failing any drug screenings, and she’s been permitted visitations with the children.
Assistant Prosecutor Leckta Poling reminded the court that the charges against Daniels are “serious” and “significant.” She said the state’s main concern is the safety of the children.
Shepler agreed with Poling that the charges are serious and noted that Daniels’ bond was already substantially lower than usual, as the court was aware that she’d been making progress. He said it was hard to consider modifying the bond, given the strangulation and child abuse charges, and it was hard to consider without any testimony. Shepler denied Gwaltney’s motion and kept Daniel’s bond as previously set.
According to the criminal complaint, prepared by Sgt. V.J. Pyles of the Elkins detachment of the West Virginia State Police, Pyles attended three separate Child Advocacy Center interviews in Elkins on May 18, for three juveniles who once resided at the same Elkins residence, according to the criminal complaint.
During the interviews, the children said they had been verbally and physically abused by Daniels, and that she had threatened to kill them and then herself, the complaint states. Two of the children said that Daniels was addicted to drugs.
One of the juveniles said Daniels would grab the child by the throat and would only let go “after a few minutes,” according to the complaint. That juvenile also said at one point Daniels chased the child around the home with a knife, eventually cutting the child's finger.
Two of the children spoke about an alleged incident in which Daniels was arguing with a man, and they “rammed each other in their vehicles,” the complaint states. One of the children said that Daniels and the man were “in a 'car fight' and were playing 'bumper cars,'” and that a child was in Daniels' vehicle and the child's leg was injured “when the cars struck one another.”