Man awaits sentencing on rape conviction

ERIE, Pa. (AP) — A 29-year-old northwestern Pennsylvania man who acknowledged binding and gagging a woman with duct tape is awaiting sentencing after being convicted of rape.

Paul Sweetapple maintained that the woman consented to the acts at a motel near Erie in March 2008. At his first trial in November, a jury convicted him of one count of indecent assault but deadlocked on the other charges, including two counts of rape.

Sweetapple was convicted Thursday of two counts of rape and one count each of unlawful restraint and simple assault. The judge revoked his $25,000 bond and ordered him held at the Erie County Prison to await sentencing July 24.

Sweetapple is from Kennerdell, about 60 miles south-southeast of Erie.

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