CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Kanawha County woman says she was raped by a West Virginia State Police trooper and that the troopers' internal affairs unit told her not to tell anyone about it.

The woman, who asked that her name not be used because of the alleged sexual assault, said the trooper told her he was going to drive her to her job at a strip club in Jefferson but instead took her up a winding country road nearby and raped her.

She says the incident happened Feb. 9.

This is the second allegation of rape made by a woman against a South Charleston-based trooper in the past 18 months.

"We do have an allegation of misconduct by one of our members and that allegation is being investigated," said Capt. R.W. Lively, commander of Troop 4, which is headquartered in South Charleston.

The trooper being investigated is on restricted duties and working only in the office, Lively said.

"He's performing no law enforcement duties at this time," the commander said.

Lively said he could not comment further on an ongoing investigation.

The woman says police approached her in the afternoon, before she was to go to work at 7 p.m. at the club.

"I was sitting in a bar ... drinking some beers before I went to work," the woman said. "They [State Police officers] were outside of the bar and wanted to know if I had [my] house key."

The woman says police approached her because they thought there was a meth lab inside the house where she was staying.

"There was not a meth lab in there; I gave them the house key," she said.

She said the officer that she alleges later raped her put her in his cruiser and took her to the South Charleston barracks for questioning.

The two knew each other from a previous incident, the woman said. The trooper had responded to a call on Aug. 11, when the woman said she had been stabbed in the neck, she said.

Once back in the barracks, the woman says the trooper didn't ask her any questions, but that he and another trooper began teasing her.

"One of them said he would give me 5 cents because that's all I was worth," the woman said.

The woman said while at the barracks the trooper she claims later raped her exposed himself to her and asked her to perform a sexual act, which she refused.

The trooper then told her he was taking her to work and put her in the front seat of his cruiser, she said.

"He said he was off duty," the woman said.

The woman, who asked that her name not be used because of the alleged sexual assault, said the trooper told her he was going to drive her to her job at a strip club in Jefferson but instead took her up a winding country road nearby and raped her.

She says the incident happened Feb. 9.

This is the second allegation of rape made by a woman against a South Charleston-based trooper in the past 18 months.

"We do have an allegation of misconduct by one of our members and that allegation is being investigated," said Capt. R.W. Lively, commander of Troop 4, which is headquartered in South Charleston.

The trooper being investigated is on restricted duties and working only in the office, Lively said.

"He's performing no law enforcement duties at this time," the commander said.

Lively said he could not comment further on an ongoing investigation.

The woman says police approached her in the afternoon, before she was to go to work at 7 p.m. at the club.

"I was sitting in a bar ... drinking some beers before I went to work," the woman said. "They [State Police officers] were outside of the bar and wanted to know if I had [my] house key."

The woman says police approached her because they thought there was a meth lab inside the house where she was staying.

"There was not a meth lab in there; I gave them the house key," she said.

She said the officer that she alleges later raped her put her in his cruiser and took her to the South Charleston barracks for questioning.

The two knew each other from a previous incident, the woman said. The trooper had responded to a call on Aug. 11, when the woman said she had been stabbed in the neck, she said.

Once back in the barracks, the woman says the trooper didn't ask her any questions, but that he and another trooper began teasing her.

"One of them said he would give me 5 cents because that's all I was worth," the woman said.

The woman said while at the barracks the trooper she claims later raped her exposed himself to her and asked her to perform a sexual act, which she refused.

The trooper then told her he was taking her to work and put her in the front seat of his cruiser, she said.

"He said he was off duty," the woman said.

While on the Dunbar Bridge, the woman says the trooper again exposed himself to her and asked her to touch him.

"The only thing that saved me is that it's on audio. I keep saying, 'Please take me to work,'" the woman said. She claims that the incident was recorded by the State Police's in-car audio recording system. She said the trooper's camera was turned off.

According to the woman, the trooper told her he was going to take her the back way to the strip club where she worked.

"I said, 'There is no back way. It's straight on MacCorkle Avenue,'" she said. "He takes me up on the mountain - there were big gates we have to get through. We were overlooking the whole Kanawha Valley.

"So here he is, he comes up and tells me to get out [of the car]," she said. "And he rapes me."

The woman said she believes there is an audio recording of the entire incident.

She said once the State Police began their internal investigation, an officer told her not to tell anyone about what happened.

"They said if I wouldn't say anything, that the police barracks could punish him more if I kept my mouth shut," she said.

The woman said police told her they would force him to leave the state and go somewhere else where he could be a police officer.

She said she's now scared to leave her home.

"I don't know if he's going to do something to me," she said.

Lively said he couldn't comment on the woman's allegations about the internal investigator. All allegations are taken seriously, and troopers are punished accordingly when those allegations prove true, he said.

"We receive allegations all the time against our members," he said. "Some are substantiated, some are not. It's a part of doing business for any agency."

In December 2008, former State Trooper Derek S. Snavely resigned after a Charleston woman accused him of rape.

Kanawha County prosecutors declined to bring charges against Snavely after reviewing the evidence, Dan Holstein, assistant prosecutor for Kanawha County, said previously. The case was independently reviewed by two assistant prosecutors and they agreed that there was no prosecutable offense, he said.

A civil case against Snavely is scheduled to go to trial Oct. 25 in front of Kanawha Circuit Judge James Stucky, said Mike Clifford, the alleged victim's attorney.

Snavely is now chief of police in Hinton.

Reach Gary Harki at gha...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5163.