Jul 11, 2018 3 min read

A former Canonsburg woman testified at a preliminary hearing Tuesday she was raped and choked during an attack in her home by a onetime co-worker.

Nathaniel Kevin Griffin Jr., 25, of 203 Lincoln Ave., Canonsburg, was ordered by District Judge David Mark to stand trial on charges of rape, rape of an unconscious victim, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated assault, strangulation and unlawful restraint filed last month by Canonsburg police Detective Michael Ledger.

The 20-year-old alleged victim, who now lives in Chartiers Township, said she knew Griffin from working at the same Racetrack Road restaurant. She said he had been to her former home on Giffin Avenue, and she spoke with him every month or two.

The woman was at her home with a girlfriend in the early hours of May 16 when she said Griffin knocked on her door. She said she let him in after he told her he needed to talk with someone.

The woman testified about 15 minutes after her friend left, she was standing near a couch in her living room when Griffin grabbed her by the neck and carried her into the bedroom. She said he pushed her down on the bed and continued to choke her.

“I lost my sight. I couldn’t breathe,” she said. “I believe I lost consciousness.”

When she came to, she said Griffin was raping her.

“He told me not to move,” she said. “I tried to run to my brother’s.”

She was able to get to the basement, but she said Griffin caught up to her and dragged her back up the steps. Griffin allegedly grabbed an extension cord and wrapped it around her neck.

“It felt like forever,” she testified. “I tugged at it and he let go. I begged for my life. I told him to just leave me alone and not to kill me or my dog.”

The woman said Griffin took her into the living room and told her to get on the couch, where he sexually assaulted and raped her again.

The alleged victim said she told Griffin she would not call police. She said he asked to use her cellphone to call his mother to take him to work, and after he left a short time later, she said she ran to her brother’s house and they called 911.

The woman was treated at Canonsburg Hospital for bruising on her neck, leg and arm, and also had broken blood vessels around her eyes from being choked.

The woman testified she and Griffin had never been romantically involved.

Griffin remains in Washington County jail on $100,000 bond. He will be formally arraigned Aug. 30.

Griffin also is scheduled for a preliminary hearing next week before District Judge Jay Weller on simple assault and disorderly conduct charges filed by South Strabane Township police in connection with an April 16 incident. He also reportedly is wanted on a detainer in Stark County, Ohio.