ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Friday, January 26, 1996               TAG: 9601260085
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: B-5  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK 

JUDGE SENDS RAPE CASE TO GRAND JURY AT HEARING, SHE TELLS OF ALLEGED RAPE

A 23-year-old woman testified Thursday that she was raped and sodomized by a supervisor during a company Christmas party last month at a Roanoke hotel.

After hearing the woman's account, General District Judge Vincent Lilley found probable cause to support charges against Thomas F. Kulis and certified the case to a grand jury.

Kulis, a 35-year-old supervisor for McDonald's, and the woman, an employee at one of the franchise's restaurants, were attending a company Christmas party the night of Dec. 7 at the Sheraton Inn Roanoke Airport.

During more than two hours of testimony, the woman said Kulis invited her to a smaller party that supposedly was going on in one of the hotel rooms. They ended up at the room, where there was no party.

At that point, she said, Kulis tried to kiss her and then grabbed her as she backed away. After forcing her onto a bed, the woman testified, Kulis raped and sodomized her.

"He kept saying, 'I know this is what you want,''' the woman testified.

The woman returned to her home and reported the offense to police the day after the party.

The woman and Kulis no longer work for McDonald's.

Kulis, of Pulaski County, was allowed to remain free on bond after the preliminary hearing. He faces a maximum sentence of two life terms in prison.

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