YOUNGSTOWN Man held in child sex cases
He has denied the charges to a Mahoning County Sheriff's Department investigator.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 24-year-old East Side man was bound over to a Mahoning County grand jury on three charges of felony rape against children.
During his preliminary hearing Monday on the charges in municipal court, Alfie Sloane, also known as Jamal, was accused of molesting three girls, ages 6, 10 and 11.
Assistant City Prosecutor Anthony Farris said he was prepared to play videotaped interviews of the children during the hearing. With agreement from Sloane's defense attorney, two workers from the Mahoning County Children Services Board testified instead.
Testimony: Janet Thomae testified that a 10-year-old girl with whom Sloane lived at three city addresses said he had molested her numerous times over the two years ending in January. She testified that the girl also said Sloane had shown her pornographic films weekly. She said threats were made to force her to engage in the acts. There was no medical evidence that the girl had been raped.
Lenore Blanton testified that a 6-year-old girl told her Sloane had molested her once. A medical report showed evidence that she may have been raped, Blanton testified.
Blanton said another girl, 11, said Sloane had molested more than 20 times from 1999 through 2001 and accused him of forcing her to perform sex acts. There was no physical indication that the girl had been raped.
The 6- and 11-year-old girls were friends of the other girl and had visited her home when the assaults to them occurred, testimony showed.
During testimony, Sloane shook his head and lowered it often, at times covering his eyes. He has denied the accusations to a Mahoning County Sheriff's Department detective.
What lawyer said: Defense attorney Mark Carfolo argued that there was no physical evidence that the two older girls had been molested. The information from the medical exam on the 6-year-old girl could not be linked to Sloane, he said.
After the hearing, Judge Robert A. Douglas ordered that probable cause exists to proceed with the three cases and bound them over to a grand jury. He continued bonds of $350,000 on each case. Sloane remains in Mahoning County Jail.