One year in prison for sexual assault

YOUNGSTOWN — A 28-year-old Canfield man is going to prison for one year after being convicted of sexually assaulting an intoxicated woman after she passed out, and he carried her out of a bar 3 1/2 years ago.

Judge John M. Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court imposed the sentence Wednesday on Martin Eberth IV of Herbert Road in connection with the April 17, 2004, assault on the 31-year-old Austintown woman, which occurred in a car outside a South Meridian Road bar. Judge Durkin had found Eberth guilty of sexual battery after a non-jury trial.

The sentence was substantially less than the five-year prison term requested by Dawn Krueger, assistant county prosecutor.

The judge said he was convinced of Eberth’s guilt by “the independent, objective testimony” of witnesses who said they saw Eberth carry the woman out of the bar after she passed out.

For more, see Thursday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com