Prosecutor drops rape charge

The arrest triggered a probation violation hearing.

staff report

YOUNGSTOWN — A rape charge against a 26-year-old South Side man has been dismissed.

The charge against Frank L. Sanders Jr., of East Midlothian Boulevard, was dismissed Friday in municipal court without prejudice, meaning it can be refiled.

City Prosecutor Jay Macejko said the matter remains under investigation. He declined further comment.

Sanders was arraigned May 8 on the charge, and Judge Robert A. Douglas Jr. set bond at $250,000. The judge also instructed Sanders to have no contact with the accuser or her residence.

Police interviewed the 22-year-old Niles woman at St. Elizabeth Health Center around 1 a.m. May 8. The hospital did a rape examination and turned the evidence over to police. The woman, a Youngstown State University student, told police she had been raped outside an East Midlothian bar.

Mahoning County Common Pleas Court records show that Judge James C. Evans granted Sanders early release from prison Feb. 29 and suspended the balance of the three-year sentence (minus 163 days he served in county jail) imposed on April 21, 2006. The judge placed him on three years’ community control to be supervised by the Ohio Adult Parole Authority. He also had to complete a day reporting program at Community Corrections Association, a halfway facility on Market Street.

Since the arrest on the rape charge, Judge Evans scheduled a probable cause hearing for Monday and a probation violation hearing for June 4.

Sanders is expected to remain in jail on a parole authority hold until the hearing \Monday.

Sanders had been convicted of having a weapon under disability, improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle and possession of cocaine with a firearm specification.