WARSAW — A Warsaw man was convicted in Coshocton County Common Pleas Court on Friday of sex crimes.
Clayton Z. Rohrer, 32, was charged in April 2021 with two counts of rape, felonies in the first degree, related to the events of August 1 and December 28, 2020, with a minor who was 15 years old at the time.
On January 10, Rohrer pleaded guilty to two amended charges of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, third-degree felonies. Prosecutor Jason Given said the victim and her mother agreed with the amended charges and the attorney’s joint submission.
“The state takes into account, to a large extent, the comfort of the victim in terms of the procedure, in terms of trials and things of that nature. The state takes the opinion of the victim and the victim’s parents about it and gives him a lot of leverage when he makes deals like this,” Given said. “The state certainly doesn’t want to force a child on the stand to talk about things that are very uncomfortable for achieve a certain result.”
Rohrer received 24 months in prison for each count to be served concurrently and was fined $5,000. He was credited with four days of local incarceration. Rohrer will compulsorily serve five years of post-release supervision and register as a Level II sex offender for 25 years.
The Coshocton County Sheriff’s Office Special Victims Unit began investigating a sexual abuse case involving a minor on March 7, 2021. Rohrer was taken into custody as part of the investigation on March 12, 2021. March 2021, at a residence in Ohio 79.
Attorney Douglas Funkhouser nor Rohrer made any comments in court. The victim’s mother spoke and gave words of encouragement to her daughter.
“You are brave. You are strong. You are brave. You are beautiful. You are innocent. You are valued. You are loved. You are appreciated. she told her daughter in open court.
Judge Robert Batchelor concurred with the mother’s statements regarding her daughter and reiterated them to the victim.
“Young lady, you are a survivor and there is no shame in that,” Batchelor told her.
He also agreed with Given’s statements that sometimes it is best to avoid a jury trial for all parties.
“I understand the need for parents to protect their children and, perhaps, protect them from the spectacle of a jury trial, in which a young woman will have to sit in the (witness’s) chair and face accused in a crowded courtroom,” Batchelor said. “In that sense, it has been said, sometimes the angels are with a plea bargain.”
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This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Warsaw man sentenced to 24 months in prison for sex crimes
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