A second woman has filed a federal lawsuit alleging she was repeatedly sexually abused and harassed by a former Kanawha County sheriff’s deputy. The complaint accuses former Deputy Cass Close, who worked as a bailiff at Kanawha County Judicial Annex in Charleston, of assaulting the woman over an 18-month period beginning in late 2023. Close was arrested on July 31in connection with a separate case in which another woman accused him of sexually assaulting her on July 29 at the judicial annex. He was terminated from the sheriff’s department after his arrest
Close is being held in the Southwestern Regional Jail on a $100,000 bond.