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Press Release

West Virginia Man Charged with Federal Civil Rights Offenses for Sexual Assault of Two Victims

For Immediate Release
Office of Public Affairs

A former parole officer with the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation was arrested today after being charged in federal court with civil rights violations, obstruction of justice and making false statements to federal investigators.

Anthony DeMetro, 44, was charged in a seven-count indictment unsealed today, with five counts of acting under color of law to deprive individuals of their civil rights, one count of obstruction of justice and one count of false statements to federal investigators. The indictment alleges that, while DeMetro was acting in his official capacity as a parole officer, he sexually assaulted two victims on a total of five separate occasions. The indictment further alleges that DeMetro lied to a state investigator and to federal investigators about his sexual misconduct. 

If convicted, DeMetro faces maximum penalties of life imprisonment on three of the civil rights counts, 20 years on the obstruction of justice count, five years on the false statements count and one year on each of the remaining civil rights counts. 

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney William S. Thompson for the Southern District of West Virginia and Special Agent in Charge Michael D. Nordwall of the FBI Pittsburgh Field Division made the announcement.

The FBI Pittsburgh Field Division investigated this case. Trial Attorneys Kathryn E. Gilbert and Nikhil Ramnaney of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Monica Coleman for the Southern District of West Virginia are prosecuting this case.

Anyone with information about Anthony DeMetro should contact the FBI’s Charleston Resident Agency at 304-346-2300.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Updated September 22, 2022

Topic
Civil Rights
Press Release Number: 22-1006