Boardman man pleads guilty in child-sex case

The man will be sentenced Sept. 25.

By John W. Goodwin Jr.

YOUNGSTOWN — A Boardman man initially charged with 12 counts of rape against a teenage girl whom he knew has entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors.

John A. Combis, 41, of Hopkins Road, was charged with raping the girl between June 1, 2006, and May 31, 2007, in his residence.

Combis, in a plea agreement reached Tuesday, pleaded guilty to six counts of gross sexual imposition. The case is before Judge John Durkin, Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Combis will be sentenced Sept. 25. He posted $75,000 bond and is on electronically monitored house arrest. That bond has been continued until his sentencing date.

Combis faced three to 120 years on the original charges. Natasha Frenchko, an assistant county prosecutor, said the sentencing recommendation in the plea agreement is eight years.

Prosecutors say the plea agreement was the best way to resolve the case in light of changes that have occurred since Combis was indicted nearly two years ago. Dawn Cantalamessa, an assistant county prosecutor, said the victim has been recanting her story about the sexual assaults.

Cantalamessa said prosecutors allowed the gross-sexual-imposition charge because Combis confessed touching the girl after failing a lie- detector test. She said the state also has DNA evidence from an area of the house where the girl said the sexual activity took place, but the girl’s testimony is still needed.

“There is no way to prove this without her,” Cantalamessa said. “We worked out a deal that gets him some prison time, gets some justice for the girl and gets him registered as a sex offender.”

Combis was indicted on the original rape charges after the girl told school counselors that Combis had been sexually abusing her. The girl said Combis had been abusing her sexually since she was 6.

At the time of police questioning, the girl could not say how many times she had been abused by Combis but told police the abuse took place about once a week since the initial incident.

Combis was initially arraigned in August 2007, but the case shows 11 continued court dates since the time of his arraignment. The plea agreement was reached earlier this week.

Court records also show Combis was charged with corruption of a minor in 1991.

He pleaded no contest and was found guilty of that charge.

Judge Peter C. Economus sentenced Combis to 18 months in prison but suspended the sentence.

Combis was placed on two years’ probation with the Adult Parole Authority.

jgoodwin@vindy.com