By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
A Bowling Green man charged with sexual offenses over a six-year period against a juvenile family member asked for a change in the terms of his bond on Thursday.
Matthew Rava’s attorney, Ty Mahaffey, made three requests of Wood County Common Pleas Judge Joel Kuhlman.
First, when the judge asked for the address where Rava is residing, Mahaffey asked that his address be given to the court privately, since the 33-year-old Rava is allegedly receiving “serious death threats.”
Kuhlman accepted that request, saying the court and probation department need to make sure Rava isn’t violating the exclusion zone within two miles of his family’s home.
Mahaffey also asked for an additional pretrial for his client, due to the vast volume of discovery materials with “tons of phone downloads.”
The judge granted that request, and set the next pretrial for Sept. 24, at 2 p.m.
And Mahaffey requested that the radius of where Rava cannot go near the family home be reduced to one-mile rather than the two-mile radius already in place. According to the attorney, a client of Rava’s HVAC business lives within the two-mile radius.
Kuhlman said he wanted to give the victim an opportunity to attend a hearing about that request before ruling on it. That hearing has been set for Aug. 27 at 2:30 p.m.
Wood County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Brian Boos, who is handling this case, said there has been no indication from the victim or the probation department that the terms of the probation have been violated.
However, during the investigation of allegations against Rava, prior to the bond terms being set, the Bowling Green Police Division noted disregard for arrangements set up to ensure Rava maintained distance from his alleged victim.
Though the bulk of the 29-page police report has been redacted, some readable portions show that Matthew Rava’s wife, Jordan, was reportedly aware of the abuse and helped her husband sneak into the house after being told he was not allowed in the home.
According to the police report, Wood County Job and Family Services reportedly advised Jordan Rava of a safety plan put in place in which Matthew Rava should not be at the family residence when the alleged victim was there. Text messages between the husband and wife reportedly show an exchange in which Jordan Rava tells her husband to come to the back of the house so she could sneak him in a back window of the home.
Text messages between the couple also reportedly included several comments from Jordan Rava that the child had told her that Matthew Rava was touching her inappropriately.
Boos said the prosecutor’s office is aware of Jordan Rava’s alleged actions, but added, “Our first priority is Mr. Rava.”
Matthew Rava, was arrested in mid-July after being indicted by a Wood County Grand Jury for nine counts of sexual offenses against a juvenile family member. He was initially lodged in Wood County Jail, but was released on $50,000 bond.
He was indicted on the following charges:
- Three counts of sexual battery, a fourth degree felony, from May 1, 2025, through May 31, 2026, caused a juvenile to engage in sexual activity with him.
- Fourth count of sexual battery, on or about Feb. 7-9, 2026, engaged in sexual activity with a juvenile.
- Fifth count of sexual battery, on or about March 1-31, 2026, engaged in sexual activity with a juvenile.
- One count of grooming, a fifth degree felony, from May 1, 2025, through May 31, 2026, engaged in a pattern of conduct with a minor younger than 13 years old, “when the pattern of conduct would cause a reasonable adult person to believe that he was communicating with the victim with purpose to entice, coerce, or solicit the victim to engage in sexual activity, and when his purpose in engaging in the pattern of conduct was to entice, coerce, or solicit the victim to engage in sexual activity with him.”
- One count of rape, a first degree felony, on or about Aug. 1, 2020, through July 17, 2021, engaged in sexual conduct with juvenile who was 8 years old.
- Second count of rape, on or about July 18, 2021, through July 17, 2022, engaged in sexual conduct with juvenile who was 9 years old.
- Third count of rape, on or about July 18, 2022, through June 9, 2023, engaged in sexual conduct with juvenile who was 10 years old.
The investigation into Rava’s charges was a collaborative effort by the Bowling Green Police Division and the Wood County Sheriff’s Office, since some of the alleged incidents occurred in the city and some outside in the city limits, Boos said.
