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Man gets 12 months for abduction attempt
The man was convicted of trying to abduct a child earlier this year.
YOUNGSTOWN — A Boardman man convicted of trying to abduct a 14-year-old girl from a busy township road earlier this year will spend the next 12 months in prison.
Guy Krupa, 49, of Oregon Trail, was convicted of felony attempted abduction July 15 by a jury of seven men and five women. He appeared for sentencing Wednesday before Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Judge Krichbaum sentenced Krupa to 12 months in prison with credit for the 32 days he has already spent in the county jail. Krupa was facing a maximum of 18 months in prison.
Krupa could also be placed on probation for up to three years once he is released from prison. The judge said the court would consider granting judicial release once Krupa has served some time in prison.
Judge Krichbaum spent several minutes revisiting various aspects of the case before passing the sentence.
On the afternoon of April 13, a 14-year-old girl was walking along Southern Boulevard to meet a friend. As the girl approached Leighton Avenue, a man, later identified as Krupa, driving a tan sport utility vehicle, stopped at a stop sign on Leighton at Southern and offered the girl a ride.
The girl refused, but prosecutors and police say Krupa persisted, scaring the girl and drawing the attention of a woman passing by. Gabriel Wildman, an assistant county prosecutor, during the trial said Krupa told the girl to “get in the [expletive] car.”
Judge Krichbaum reviewed a police report before sentencing and determined that no statement was made to police about Krupa’s ordering the girl to get into the car. He said that phrase only surfaced at trial and was contrary to what was said to police at the time of the incident.
The judge said he was also bothered by the fact that the young girl did not report the incident when she reached her friend, who was carrying a cell phone. She reported it only after being approached by the woman passing by.
The judge also mentioned reservations the court had with the charges lodged against Krupa through the prosecutor’s office.
Defense Attorney Ronald Knickerbocker, before sentencing, asked the judge to take into account Krupa’s long record of service with the Air Force and the fact that he has no substance-abuse problems or domestic-violence issues.
Krupa, who said he was trying to help the girl, apologized to the court and said he wished he had minded his own business and not offered the girl a ride. He emphasized that he had no intention to abduct the girl.
Judge Krichbaum said the court would honor the decision of the jury that convicted Krupa.
“The bottom line is that you chose to go to trial by jury and the jury found you guilty of attempted abduction,” he said.
jgoodwin@vindy.com