photo by: Wyandotte County Detention Center

Alex James Skidmore

A Lawrence man was charged Monday in Douglas County District Court with rape and sodomy on the heels of a similar case against him in Wyandotte County.

Alex James Skidmore, 20, is charged with one felony count of rape and one felony count of aggravated sodomy of a 22-year-old, according to charging documents. The charges relate to an incident on or about June 16, 2022.

During Skidmore’s first appearance on Monday in Douglas County, Chief Judge James McCabria appointed attorney Michael Clarke to represent Skidmore, who told the court that he could not afford an attorney because he was unemployed after having been in jail for the last nine months in Wyandotte County.

“I had a similar case in Wyandotte that was just dropped,” Skidmore said.

According to the Wyandotte County Detention Center inmate log, Skidmore was booked into the Wyandotte County Jail on July 19, 2022, and was charged with rape, aggravated sexual battery and criminal restraint. He was scheduled to appear in court in Wyandotte County for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 8. The charges are currently listed as “released,” and records do not indicate whether the charges were dismissed. He was booked into the Douglas County Jail on Friday.

The state, represented by Assistant District Attorney Adam Carey and legal intern Jacob Kuckelman, asked McCabria to set a bond of $150,000 cash or surety and to require that Skidmore be kept on house arrest if he makes bond.

Skidmore asked if the bond could be lowered to $75,000 instead, saying that he would be able to afford that amount. He then told McCabria that he would hire his own attorney but needed a court-appointed attorney to get started.

McCabria said that Skidmore had no prior failure-to-appear incidents in Douglas County and that a pretrial screen did not recommend house arrest. McCabria then set a $75,000 own-recognizance bond and scheduled a status conference for Feb. 28. An own-recognizance bond means that Skidmore is not required to put up any money to bond out of jail but may face a penalty if he fails to appear.