Trial begins for suspect in Augusta rape case

Jury selection began Monday for an Augusta man charged with rape.

Joshua Woody, 40, has pleaded not guilty to charges of rape and aggravated assault.

A woman in town on business June 8 told Richmond County Sheriff Investigator Nancy Clark that Woody sat next to her at a bar and the two talked. But after she returned from using the restroom and finished her drink, she couldn’t remember anything else until she awoke at 6:30 a.m. in pain.

Security cameras caught Woody and the woman entering the hotel where she was staying and taking the elevator.

Woody went to the sheriff’s office voluntarily on June 16 and talked with Clark. Woody initially denied any contact with the woman, then said he walked her to her the hotel because she was intoxicated, and later had consensual sex.

Woody gave the investigator permission to access his phone. She found images of women in bondage and gagged when engaged in sexual acts. Clark also found that before going to the sheriff’s office Woody used his smart phone to search the terms sexual assault and consent.