A former Carter County deputy has been re-indicted on charges alleging he assaulted his former girlfriend and a man who attempted to render aid to the woman.
The indictment was handed down Monday by a Carter County grand jury, charging Matthew Ward Ainsworth with one count of aggravated assault (strangulation) and one count of aggravated assault (serious injury).
Ainsworth had previously been indicted on the charges, but the case was remanded to General Sessions Court because of a procedural issue in June. After a preliminary hearing held in the lower court in August, the charges were bound back over to the grand jury.
The indictment issued on Monday alleges Ainsworth on or about Oct. 6, 2013, “did commit the offense of aggravated assault by intentionally or knowingly attempting or intending to cause bodily injury to (the female) by strangulation, a class C Felony.” The second count of the indictment alleges on or about the same date Ainsworth “did unlawfully commit the offense of agravated assault by intentionally or knowingly causing serious bodily injury to (the male), a class C Felony.”
Because the charges were re-indicted by the grand gury, the case against Ainsworth can now proceed in Criminal Court.
The charges stem from an October 2013 incident that resulted in Ainsworth – who was employed as a deputy with the Carter County Sheriff’s Department at the time – being charged with assaulting his former girlfriend and a male neighbor who had tried to assist the woman.
Ainsworth is scheduled to appear in Criminal Court on Oct. 2.