A Culpeper County grand jury on Monday upheld a direct indictment against an Arlington man charging him with rape.
Benjamin R. Senter, 49, of the 3000 block of 16th Road South, is due back in circuit court July 27 at 10 a.m. for arraignment.
Senter is free on a $50,000 secured bond.
A general district court judge dismissed a similar charge against Senter last week, but prosecutors reintroduced it through a direct indictment. That happens when a case is sent straight to trial before a preliminary inquiry is completed or when charges against the accused have been dismissed.
According to Senter’s defense attorney, John Spencer of Fredericksburg, Senter and the alleged victim met through the sexual fetish networking website fetlife.com in 2003. Since that time, Spencer says, Senter and the victim have met for about 12 consensual bondage, discipline, dominance and submission sexual encounters.
But on April 2, prosecutors say, one of the encounters went too far and the role-playing escalated out of control at the victim’s Culpeper County residence.
The victim reported that Senter ignored her objections, hit her with a cane, bit her and dragged her by her hair. Senter is also accused of repeatedly ignoring a “safe word,” a term or phrase used to immediately stop the role-playing.
Following the alleged assault, Senter and the woman spent the evening together, but in different areas of the home.
During a May bond hearing, the defense acknowledged that Senter and the victim “had words in the morning” after the incident and the victim told Senter that their sexual encounter was “too rough.” But Spencer told the court that his client apologized and thought the matter was resolved.
According to prosecutors, Senter also sent a text message the following morning, expressing remorse for what happened and asking if they could remain friends.
Senter is a retired Air Force master sergeant who works for the Defense Intelligence Agency at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C. Also previously employed at the Pentagon, Senter has held a top-secret government clearance for more than 30 years.
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