Man sentenced for sex crime

WARREN — He said he was sorry.

But sorry didn’t help Paul Hake, 49, of Depot Street in Niles, during a sentencing hearing in Trumbull County Common Please Court Wednesday morning.

Hake was sentenced to a total of eight years at the Lorain Correctional Institute on two counts of sexual activity involving a 7-year-old girl. He could have been sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison.

“I don’t feel I should be harshly punished,” he said, because there was no physical harm done to the girl.

He is required to register as a sex offender in any community he will reside or work. Judge W. Wyatt McKay said Hake is not allowed to live within 1,000 feet of any school.

Hake, who covered his face with his hands before being sentenced, was found guilty by a jury in June.

He was found guilty of the sex crimes against the girl at his home during the summer of 2004. The girl didn’t tell of her encounter with Hake until 2005.