OSWEGO — A Jefferson County man who allegedly gave a girl a cellphone as “a benefit” for not testifying against him is being held under $40,000 bail in Oswego County jail.

Matthew D. Roof, 34, of 26279 Middle Road, town of Rutland, was arrested Monday afternoon by the Oswego County Sheriff’s Department on charges of felony criminal contempt and bribing a witness.

The Sheriff’s Department alleges that Mr. Roof called the girl, said only to be under age 17, on the cellphone he gave her, and asked her to lie for him in court and recant any allegations she had made against him. She was frightened by the terms in which he expressed his request, according to the sheriff’s office.

The prior case, still pending in Hastings Town Court, involves an arrest made in October in which Mr. Roof is charged with second-degree rape, first-degree criminal sex act, second-degree criminal sexual conduct against a child and endangering the welfare of a child, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

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