Man sentenced to 27 years for rape

Staff report

LISBON

Judge C. Ashley Pike of Columbiana County Common Pleas Court sentenced Earl D. Hicks, 32, of Wayne Bridge Road, Lisbon, to three consecutive nine-year prison terms for rape.

Timothy McNicol, the county prosecutor who handles sex cases, said Friday that Hicks apologized to the teenage victim. McNicol said the victim declined to make a statement in court.

Also on Friday, Judge David Tobin of common pleas court sentenced Brian Styen, 24, of Columbiana, to 90 days in the county jail on a charge of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. He will be on probation for four years after serving his jail time. The acts occurred in 2008.

A co-defendant, Cody Harmon, now 22, of East Palestine, already has served a 90-day sentence in the county jail on the same charge.