Clements William Copsey III, a 46-year-old Mechanicsville man and Army veteran, was sentenced on Feb. 21 to 18 months of home confinement for two counts of misdemeanor assault after being indicted for three counts of second-degree rape.
St. Mary’s County Circuit Court Judge Michael J. Stamm sentenced Copsey to two five-year terms with all suspended except for 18 months in accord with a plea agreement. The rape charges were dismissed. The assault convictions will be served concurrently, according to senior assistant state’s attorney Donna Pettersen.
Copsey was given credit for 417 days, most of which was in home confinement following his arrest on Dec. 31, 2021. Copsey served five days in jail before he was released on his own recognizance.
According to the indictment and charging documents, Copsey forced his wife, an amputee who was wheelchair-bound, to perform three sex acts with him at a home in the 27800 block of Mechanicsville Road.
The woman said Copsey consumed 18 beers and numerous shots of hard liquor on Dec. 30, 2021, and left for a funeral. When he returned, he allegedly sexually assaulted her once in the kitchen and twice in a bathroom.
He also slapped her then-15-year-old daughter on the butt and grabbed his daughter by the jaw and shoved her against a wall in the kitchen, the charging document states.
The woman said she threw a drink at Copsey after the latter incident. Copsey maintained that he separated the woman and his daughter and said the woman threw the drink on him.
A report from a Prince George’s hospital said the woman has signs of sexual activity, but no injuries.
The victim did not appear in court on Feb. 21, but Stamm said she agreed to the sentence. Copsey was ordered to have no contact with her. He will have to complete three years of supervised probation upon completion of his sentence.
Copsey also faced a misdemeanor second-degree assault charge against the same woman stemming from April 17, 2019. That charge was placed on the court’s stet or inactive calendar, and Copsey was given conditions to complete an anger management course within 180 days.
At that time, the woman, who said she was Copsey’s fiance, said he flipped her wheelchair causing her to hit her face on a bedroom wall, injuring her lip. She said he did it again, and she cut her left wrist on an exposed nail, according to a charging document. Copsey said she snatched his cell phone and hit him in the face. Copsey has scratch marks on his face, according to the charging document.
According to reports, Copsey and the woman applied for a marriage license in June 2019. Copsey was divorced from a previous marriage in July 2009, according to court records.
Prior to sentencing on Feb. 21, Copsey’s attorney, John E. Ray of La Plata, said Copsey had a “stellar career” in the U.S. Army from 1995 to 2002 and made 36 jumps with the 82nd Airborne before injuring his feet. He later served in the honor guard at Arlington National Cemetery.
Copsey, who Ray said is an HVAC mechanic, is a 1994 graduate of Chopticon High School.
According to court records, Copsey has a DUI conviction from a November 2014 incident and two final protective orders from 2010 and 2016, although the latter appears to be rescinded or modified.