MAHONING COUNTY Man pleads guilty to child rape

Charles Gant is facing 16 years instead of life in prison.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- When Charles Gant was arrested in the rape of a little girl, the first thing he asked of his defense attorney was to schedule a polygraph test to prove his innocence.
He got his wish and took the polygraph, commonly known as a lie-detector test, and failed it.
Rather than take his chances at trial where the test outcome could be used against him, Gant pleaded guilty Thursday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to four counts of rape. Assistant Prosecutor Dawn Krueger recommended that he be sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Judge R. Scott Krichbaum set sentencing for Oct. 14 and ordered that the Ohio Adult Parole Authority do a background check on Gant in the meantime.
Gant, 44, is accused of having sexual intercourse with a 7-year-old girl who was a daughter of Gant's former girlfriend. The victim, who is now 9, contracted a venereal disease from the sexual assaults, which Krueger said happened between November 2001 and December 2002 at their Halleck Street home.
Ruling on girl's testifying
Defense attorney Michael Gollings filed a motion earlier this year asking that the victim be assessed for her competency to testify at trial because of her age.
After a hearing in May, Judge Krichbaum deemed the girl competent and said she could testify had the matter gone to trial.
If he had been convicted as charged, Gant could have been sentenced to life in prison because of the victim's age and because he was accused of using force against her.
But in exchange for his plea of guilty, Krueger dismissed the life imprisonment possibility and recommended four years on each count.
She said the girl's father approved the reduction because he did not want his daughter to have to testify.
bjackson@vindy.com