WARREN Court: 75-year-old is still a predator

The court said he had the potential to commit future crimes.
WARREN -- A 75-year-old former Masury man, convicted in 1996 of sex crimes against boys, is still considered a sexual predator despite his age -- and will remain classified as one, the 11th District Court of Appeals ruled.
John E. Yarabenetz was convicted in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court of gross sexual imposition and rape in 1996. He was sentenced to 13 to 50 years in prison. He is in Hocking Correctional Facility.
Yarabenetz was convicted of engaging in sexual conduct with three boys under the age of 13, one of whom was 10 and 11 years old at the time of the crimes. Yarabenetz was convicted of having oral and anal sex with two of the boys and receiving oral sex from the third, among other crimes.
In May 2005, Judge Peter Kontos found him to be a sexual predator. His next parole hearing is set for July 2011, according to the state department of corrections.
Yarabenetz appealed that sexual predator designation to the 11th District court. In his appeal, he said the ruling is against the manifest weight of the evidence, because the record reveals he is not likely to re-offend because he is impotent.
Risk
A psychologist who worked with Yarabenetz at the time of the 2005 hearing said he "would be classified a moderate or medium risk potential." The psychologist said the risk that he would commit a similar crime was 12 percent in five years, 14 percent in 10 years and 19 percent in 15 years.
There are factors found in Yarabenetz's "many years of offending as well as in his own prior history of being a victim" that raise rather than lower his potential for committing similar crimes again, the psychologist, Dr. Sandra B. McPherson, told the court.
Dr. McPherson said Yarabenetz reported that "his own sexual function has ended," which would suggest that it is unlikely that he will be able to return to an active sexual life of any type.
"From the standpoint of his psychological profile and the dimensions of the acts and his sexual history, he would be designated as a predator," Dr. McPherson told the court. "From the standpoint of the protection of society, that level of categorization may not be necessary."
The court said evidence suggested that Yarabenetz might be able to commit future sex crimes despite his age and sexual functioning.
Because the offenses included oral and anal sex, "age would not prevent him from engaging in those acts," the appeals court wrote in its opinion.