TRUMBULL COUNTY Niles man sentenced for raping girl
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A judge from Trumbull County Common Pleas Court has sentenced a 29-year-old Niles man to 21 years to life in prison on two counts of rape and several other charges.
Judge Peter Kontos ordered deputies to take Jerry Brazzon from the county jail to the Lorain Correctional Institution as soon as possible.
Brazzon was convicted last month of rape, two counts of showing pornographic films to a minor and one count of gross sexual imposition. The victim is a 6-year-old girl Brazzon knows.
Predator designation: Judge Kontos, who also ruled that Brazzon should be labeled a sexual predator, said Brazzon's last name "fits him well."
"Your attitude is brazen," Judge Kontos said. "You have shown no remorse."
The judge noted that Brazzon did not cooperate with court officials and declined to sign a paper that states that he was informed about sexual predator laws.
As a sexual predator, he will have to register with the county sheriff's department in his county of residence after his prison release.
Denies charges: Brazzon, who declined to speak in court, called The Vindicator after the sentencing and said the reason he didn't cooperate is because he is innocent.
"I did not do this, and I plan to appeal the conviction, as well as the sexual predator ruling," Brazzon said.
Assistant prosecutor Thomas Wrenn noted that this is not the first time Brazzon has been accused of sex charges involving a minor.
He pleaded guilty in 1999 to a charge of gross sexual imposition involving a 9-year-old girl he knew.
He was sentenced to 120 days in the county jail and five years' probation for that crime.