Man pleads guilty to reduced rape charge and felonious assault

YOUNGSTOWN — A man who previously received a life prison term for the rape of two young boys is now facing three to 18 years in prison after entering a guilty plea.

Michael Kaufman, 42, of Berkshire Drive, pleaded guilty today to one count of felonious assault and one count of rape.

If Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court adopts the six-year prison term, agreed to by the prosecution and defense, when he sentences Kaufman at 8:30 a.m. Dec. 2, the prison term will be nonappealable.

Kaufman entered his plea before the judge after Natasha Frenchko, an assistant county prosecutor, reduced a rape charge pertaining to one of the boys to felonious assault and removed a life-sentence specification from a rape charge pertaining to the second boy.

For the complete story, see Tuesday's Vindicator and Vindy.com