MAHONING COUNTY Judge sentences man to prison in rape case

The girl consented to sex, but it was still illegal because of her age.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Robert Green II knew it was wrong for him to have sex with a 12-year-old girl, so he called police and told them what he'd done.
Judge Jack Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court sentenced the 24-year-old Philadelphia Avenue man to three years in prison for rape, to which Green had pleaded guilty Sept. 2.
"If this matter had gone to trial, we would have lost, and we would have deserved to lose," said defense attorney Anthony P. Meranto. "What Mr. Green did was wrong."
Assistant prosecutor Dawn Krueger said Green had sex with the girl June 13 in the basement of his girlfriend's house. The victim, a friend to Green's girlfriend's daughter, was not in court for sentencing.
Meranto said Green was drunk and high, and that the girl coaxed him into having sex with her. Immediately after they started having sex, Green realized it was wrong and stopped, he said.
Krueger said it was Green who called 911 and reported what happened.
Even though she consented to having sex, and actually initiated it, it was still rape because the girl was under 13, Krueger said.
A change in society
Meranto said the part of Ohio law that was put into effect to protect such young girls has become an "archaic standard" because of the way society has changed over the years.
Children are becoming sexually active at younger ages, often initiating sex, he said.
"It's a comment on our society," Meranto said. "It's not just [the victim]. It's a whole group of kids that age who are irresponsible sexually for whatever reasons."
Meranto said punishment is still appropriate, but he doesn't believe that it should automatically be prison because the circumstances have changed.
Judge Durkin agreed that times have changed.
"When we were growing up, we had the benefit of 'The Brady Bunch' and 'Leave It to Beaver,' compared to MTV and everything else now that our children are exposed to, from music to TV to movies," he said.
But he said that doesn't change the fact that as an adult who knew the girl was a juvenile, Green should have refused to have sex with her.
"The law requires that people who are older have to know what makes sense," Judge Durkin said. "Not just legal sense, but common sense."
The judge said prison was necessary because the victim was so young.
The chain that bound Green's wrists together jingled as he raised his hands to wipe tears from his eyes.
"I'm really sorry for what I've done," the quiet, lanky Green said. "I was high and drunk. I wasn't thinking."
bjackson@vindy.com