Rapist gets 10 years behind bars

YOUNGSTOWN — A 55-year-old West Chalmers Avenue man will spend 10 years in prison on rape and kidnapping charges and upon his release must report his address to authorities every 90 days.

Judge Maureen A. Cronin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court sentenced Ronald Kolb today to 10 years on each charge to be served concurrently.

A jury last month convicted Kolb of rape and kidnapping but found him innocent of firearms specifications. The victim, a 22-year-old man with cerebral palsy, testified during the trial that Kolb made the man get into Kolb's car outside of the bar where the victim worked.

He drove to the parking lot of a restaurant a short distance away and Kolb performed oral sex on the younger man at gunpoint.

The victim and Dawn Krueger, an assistant county prosecutor, had asked that Kolb serve 20 years — 10 years on each charge, consecutively.

Judge Cronin also determined that Kolb, who has a criminal history dating to 1971, is a sexual predator. As such, he will be required upon his release from prison to register his address with authorities every 90 days.