Prison term stayed pending appeal in attempted abduction

staff report

YOUNGSTOWN — The one-year prison term for a man convicted of attempted abduction of a 14-year-old girl from a busy Boardman street has been stayed pending appeal.

The 7th District Court of Appeals issued the stay earlier this week in the case of Guy Krupa, 50, of Oregon Trail, Boardman, who was taken to the Lorain Correctional Institution last month to begin serving his sentence.

The prison term was imposed last month by Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, who refused to stay the sentence after a jury found Krupa guilty in July.

The appellate court said it was granting the stay because Krupa would serve most or all of his sentence before the panel would decide the case, effectively depriving him of “a meaningful review.’’

The appellate court said Krupa was to be freed on $10,000 bond, is to have no contact with the complaining witness or her family, and must not leave Ohio without prior appellate court approval.

On April 13, the girl was walking on Southern Boulevard near Leighton Avenue when Krupa stopped the sport-utility vehicle he was driving at a stop sign and offered the girl a ride.

The girl refused, but prosecutors and police say Krupa persisted, scaring the girl by ordering her into the SUV.

Krupa, who said he was trying to help the girl, apologized to Judge Krichbaum and said he wished he had minded his own business and not offered the girl a ride. Krupa said he had no intention of abducting the girl.