Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Fraley was convicted of public indecency in 1997 and 1999.
STAFF REPORT
YOUNGSTOWN — A 62-year-old Niles man has pleaded guilty to three counts of raping an 8-year-old Austintown girl last summer and the prosecution is recommending three concurrent 10-year prison terms for him.
Harry Fraley, of Royal Mall Apartments, entered his guilty plea Tuesday afternoon before Judge John M. Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, who will sentence him at 9:30 a.m. Oct. 24. The potential sentencing range is from three to 30 years in prison.
Under the plea agreement, the prosecution dropped the element of force from the rape charges, thereby removing the possibility of a life prison term, and dropped three counts of gross sexual imposition.
Natasha K. Frenchko, assistant county prosecutor, and Fraley agreed to the 10-year prison term, which will be nonappealable if Judge Durkin adopts it. Fraley was indicted, arrested and jailed last September. Atty. Thomas E. Zena represents Fraley.
A police report said the assaults occurred at the girl’s residence and at Leonard Kirtz School. Fraley worked for a private firm as a security guard at the school.
Neighbors and the girl’s grandmother told police they saw Fraley kissing the girl “all over her body.” A witness who reported seeing Fraley fondle the child on a trampoline called the county Children Services Board.
While living in Boardman, Fraley pleaded no contest and was convicted of public indecency in 1997 and 1999, receiving probation in both cases.
In the first case, he exposed himself to a 3-year-old girl in a department store. In the second case, he exposed himself to a child who was sitting in a car waiting for her mother outside an apartment complex.