MARYSVILLE, Ohio (AP) — A National Guard major who hassaid he wanted to adopt a girl from
Africa to protect her from rape hasbeen indicted on charges he sexually abused three children,
includingtwo of his own.A grand jury in central Ohio indicted theMarysville man on Monday on charges of
rape, sexual battery and grosssexual imposition between 2006 and 2012. The 17-count indictment sayshe’s
the father of two of the children but doesn’t give his relationshipwith the third.The Associated Press
isn’t naming the 40-year-old man to protect the children’s identities.Theman arrived in Kuwait at the
end of June for a one-year deployment,Ohio National Guard spokesman James Sims said on Tuesday. The man,
whowas working as a medical operations officer with the 371st SustainmentBrigade, has been released from
duty and is "being sent back to theUnited States," Sims said.In a 2008 story in a
militarypublication, the man spoke about his large family and about wanting toadopt a girl to protect
her from sexual assault.Of the threechildren cited in the indictment, two are in foster care, and the
thirdis with her father, who is not the National Guard major, according tothe Union County prosecutor’s
office.Up to 11 children lived withthe man and his spouse at a house in Marysville, a city of
22,000residents northwest of Columbus, Marysville Police Department recordsshow.Police helped with the
removal of 11 children from the houselast August, according to a police report. Another report shows
thatthree days later police received a report from the county’s ChildrenProtective Services division
alleging that someone living at the sameaddress as the couple had been sexually abused.Multiple
attemptsto reach the man, his spouse or their relatives by phone and email or inperson were unsuccessful
Tuesday. Court records don’t list an attorneyfor either defendant. They are scheduled to be arraigned in
court Aug.1.The man’s indictment includes one count of intimidation of anattorney, victim or witness in
a criminal case. A Union County grandjury also indicted the man’s spouse, a 35-year-old woman, with
twocounts of that charge and an additional count of obstructing justice.Theintimidation charges stem
from the couple having intentionally sent oneof the children out of the state after the child, who’s not
one of thevictims listed in the indictment, had reported some information, UnionCounty prosecutor David
Phillips said. Phillips did not elaborate on thetype of information or say to whom it was reported, and
he wouldn’tcomment on any details of the abuse allegations.The prosecutor’s office said two or three
children who were not victims of abuse continue to live with the man’s spouse.___Garcia Cano reported
from Columbus. Associated Press writer Andrew Welsh-Huggins in Columbus contributed to this
report.Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.