WARREN Parole reversed for child molester

The former Lordstown man will have another parole board hearing in 2012.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- It will be at least another decade behind bars for a convicted child molester.
The state parole board, after an hourlong hearing Monday, reversed its decision to grant parole to David Lockney, said JoEllen Culp, of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
The parole board had granted parole to Lockney earlier this year. He was scheduled to be released July 8; however, that date was postponed after Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins asked for a full board hearing.
Watkins, who attended Monday's hearing in Columbus, could not be reached to comment.
"The board said that due to the nature of the crime, Mr. Lockney should not be released at this time," Culp said. The board said Lockney will have another parole board hearing in 2012, Culp noted.
Lockney, formerly of Lordstown, pleaded guilty July 23, 1987, in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to four counts of rape and one count of attempted rape.
Four life sentences
Lockney, who admitted to repeatedly raping his daughter when she was 6 and 7 years old, is serving four life sentences at Grafton Correctional Facility. He was eligible for parole after serving 10 years, officials said.
At the time of his guilty plea, Watkins referred to it as the worst case of child molestation ever in the county.
Judge W. Wyatt McKay of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court ruled last month that when Lockney is released from prison, he will have to register as a sexual predator. That means Lockney will have to notify the sheriff's department in the county where he lives of his designation. The sheriff's department will then send letters informing Lockney's neighbors that he is a sexual predator.
During the sexual predator hearing, Lockney's daughter, who is now 23, testified that her father would wake her up in the middle of the night and sexually assault her. She said she would cry and beg him to stop, but he refused. She said the assaults occurred numerous times.
The assaults caused serious physical harm that required Lockney's daughter to be hospitalized for two weeks, prosecutors said.
sinkovich@vindy.com