Sebring man sentenced for rape of boy

The five-year prison term is nonappealable.

STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — A Sebring man has been sentenced to five years in prison for the rape of a teenage boy in 2007.

Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court imposed the sentence Tuesday on Dana D. Edwards, 45, of North 16th Street, who had pleaded guilty Nov. 14 to one count of rape.

Natasha K. Frenchko, assistant county prosecutor, said she made the plea agreement, in which she dropped two other rape counts against Edwards, to spare the victim, who is a minor, the ordeal of testifying in a trial.

All three counts were alleged to have occurred between Feb. 1 and Aug. 31, 2007, in Mahoning County.

Edwards had entered an Alford plea, which is a guilty plea under which the defendant maintains his innocence.

“There is enough evidence in this case that puts my client at substantial risk,” said Edwards’ lawyer, David J. Betras. By entering the Alford plea, Edwards “bought down his risk,” Betras explained.

Had he gone to trial and been convicted of the three counts of rape with which he was originally charged, Edwards would have faced three to 10 years in prison on each count.

Edwards, who professed his innocence at the sentencing, admitted that he has a significant criminal record. “There’s no way in the world I could have won on this,” if the case had gone to trial, Edwards told the judge.

The judge reviewed Edwards’ criminal record and noted that Edwards was incarcerated for burglary in 1987 and went to prison for theft in 1996.

The sentence, which was agreed to by the prosecution and defense and adopted by the judge, is nonappealable. Edwards will get credit for the 161 days he has already been jailed.

After he leaves prison, Edwards will be on parole for five years, and he must register as a sex offender quarterly with the sheriff for life.