Two face prison for sex crimes

LISBON -- Two Columbiana County men have drawn prison terms for sex offenses involving young girls.
Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge C. Ashley Pike sentenced Arnold Parker, 69, of Lincoln Avenue, East Liverpool, to 31 years in prison Friday.
Parker was found guilty earlier by a jury on three counts of rape and one count of gross sexual imposition. He had entered into a plea agreement, withdrew it, and then went to trial.
He was sentenced to nine years on each of the rape charges, which were first-degree felonies, and to a four-year sentence on the last charge, a third-degree felony. Judge Pike ordered the sentences be served consecutively.
Parker was convicted of sexually assaulting the grandchildren of a woman he knew. He was also found to be a sexual predator, and will have to register his residence with authorities after his release from prison.
Richard M. Jones, 44, of Ohio Avenue, Salem, was sentenced to 10 years in prison by Judge David Tobin of common pleas court on one count of rape, a first-degree felony. Specifications were dropped that he used force or threats, which could have resulted in his spending life in prison. He was accused of having sexual contact with a girl he knew who was 4 years old.
Jones will undergo an evaluation later that will help determine whether he will be labeled as a sexual predator.