Clay Conaway, accused of raping six women over the past five years, was freed from jail earlier this week as he awaits trial.
The 22-year-old from Georgetown was released from Georgetown Correctional Institution on $310,000 bond on Monday, October 1, court records show. Last week, he pleaded not guilty to six counts of second-degree rape and one count of first-degree rape.
What Happened?
Conaway was first taken into custody in August on charges of first-degree rape in an alleged assault of a 20-year-old woman at a home in Georgetown in June. Last week, he was indicted on six additional counts of second-degree rape after five other women reported he had assaulted them.
According to Delaware.gov, the Delaware State Police Major Crimes Unit began an investigation involving a sexual assault incident that occurred back on June 20 at a residence in Georgetown, where Detectives identified Clay Conaway as the suspect.
On Wednesday, August 22, Conaway was taken into custody without incident. Conaway was transported back to Troop 4 on a warrant stemming from an August 20 indictment for Rape in the First Degree. He was arraigned before the Justice of the Peace Court 3 and committed to the Sussex Correctional Institution on $70,000 secured bond.
Since Conaway’s first arrest, the Delaware State Police Major Crimes Unit has identified five additional victims all stating they were sexually assaulted by Conaway.
On Monday, September 24, Conaway was indicted on six counts of Rape in the Second Degree involving five separate incidents. Conaway’s first court appearance was scheduled for Monday, October 1 at Sussex County Superior Court. On the same day, Conaways’ parents, Timothy and Mary Conaway, signed an agreement putting up four Sussex County properties they own in order to have their son released, according to The News Journal citing the court documents.
Conaway’s next court appearance is scheduled for December.
The conditions of his release include no contact with the victims or their families, home confinement and that he is barred from being alone with any women other than family members, court records stated.
Who Is Clay Conaway?
As NBC News reported in August, the University of Delaware Director of External Relations Andrea Boyle Tippett confirmed that Conaway had been a member of the baseball team but was no longer. She declined further comment, apart from saying he was no longer on campus.
University correspondence reviewed by The News Journal shows Conaway was expelled in October following a university investigation into a woman’s claim that he raped her in an off-campus apartment back in November 2017.
The accuser at the time was a 22-year-old university student whose name was withheld due to the protection of sex crime victims. She reported the attack to police, who have not criminally charged Conaway in that case.
“People should know the truth,” the woman said in the interview with The News Journal in September. “I feel like that will protect other women in the future and also just get the word out that he is a bad person and this is not a one-time thing.”