COLUMBIANA COUNTY E. Liverpool man gets 15 years for child rape

In exchange for guilty pleas, prosecutors dropped an allegation that carries a maximum sentence of life.
LISBON -- An East Liverpool man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 9-year-old boy.
Tony Hooper, 42, of Gaston Place, was sentenced Friday by Judge C. Ashley Pike of Columbiana County Common Pleas Court. The judge also ordered that Hooper be designated a sexual predator.
He pleaded guilty in March to rape and gross sexual imposition in exchange for an agreement from prosecutors to drop an allegation that force was used in the rape. The force specification carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Hooper was given 10 years, the maximum sentence for rape, and five years for gross sexual imposition.
What occurred: The victim, a neighborhood boy, was assaulted July 26 at Hooper's home.
Hooper was acquitted of rape charges in August 1997 after being accused of raping two disabled men at a group home in Wellsville where he worked as a caregiver.