YOUNGSTOWN Mental treatment ordered

The man could be restored to competency within a year with treatment.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 25-year-old East Side man facing multiple charges of molesting three young girls has been deemed incompetent to stand trial.
Judge Jack Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court ruled that Alfie Sloane is not capable of understanding the charges against him and can't assist in his legal defense.
Sloane "has been diagnosed has having mild mental retardation and suffers from other psychological problems," according to court documents.
A county grand jury indicted Sloane earlier this year on multiple counts of rape, attempted rape, gross sexual imposition and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles.
Sloane could be sentenced to life in prison if he is convicted of the rape charges.
At the request of his lawyer, J.P Laczko, Sloane was given a psychiatric evaluation.
The report, submitted by Dr. Stanley J. Palumbo of the Forensic Psychiatric Center of Northeast Ohio, indicted that although Sloane is incompetent now, there is a chance he will be restored to competency within a year with treatment.
Judge Durkin ordered Sloane committed to the Northcoast Behavioral Healthcare System, Cleveland. His status will be evaluated later.
Background
Police and prosecutors say Sloane molested three girls, ages 6, 10 and 11, several times in 2000 and 2001.
At a hearing in Youngstown Municipal Court earlier this year, a Mahoning County Children Services worker testified that Sloane also showed pornographic films weekly to at least one of the girls.
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. The 10-year-old girl lived with Sloane at the time.
bjackson@vindy.com