MAHONING COUNTY Man gets life in prison for child sex

The life imprisonment sentence is mandatory under Ohio law.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Richard Clark stared calmly forward as he listened to a woman tell how Clark had robbed her 12-year-old son of his innocence by molesting the boy.
"You are like the enemy that the Bible speaks of. The one who comes to kill, steal and destroy," the woman said of Clark. "I despise every fiber of your being."
When she was finished, Clark calmly denied doing anything wrong to the boy and maintained his own innocence, suggesting that the boy had made up the story he told police.
"I stand on the fact that I am innocent of this charge," the 52-year-old Sheridan Road man said.
Despite Clark's protests, Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court sentenced him to life in prison with no chance of parole.
A jury convicted Clark of rape and gross sexual imposition after a trial earlier this month. Because the victim was less than age 13, and because Clark used force or the threat of force to molest him, Ohio law requires a life sentence without parole.
Judge Krichbaum also imposed the maximum sentence of five years in prison for gross sexual imposition. The terms are consecutive.
What's behind this
Clark was convicted of engaging in sexual conduct with the accuser after a birthday party for one of Clark's children at Clark's house in November 2002.
Clark said Tuesday that the boy had accused five or six other people of similar acts, but that he was not permitted to raise that fact during his trial. That, he said, violated his right to a fair trial.
Assistant Prosecutor Dawn Krueger said Clark never mentioned the allegation during preparation for the trial. His statement Tuesday was the first time she'd heard it, she said.
"If he had evidence that the kid made accusations before, he should have brought that up and we would have looked into it," Krueger said.
Judge Krichbaum said Clark can raise the issue on appeal.
Atty. Ted Macejko Jr., who represented Clark during the trial, asked that another lawyer be appointed to handle the appeal.
bjackson@vindy.com