Charges upheld against local man in rape case

A Westmoreland County judge on Tuesday rejected a defense bid to dismiss charges against a Rostraver man accused of using a date rape drug to sexually assault an unconscious woman in her home last year.

Nathaniel Tire Johnston, 34, is charged with rape and other offenses based on allegations made by a 29-yearold woman who said she was assaulted while asleep on a sofa in August. The woman claimed she found Johnston, a man she said was a friend and onetime sexual partner, in her home when she retur...