Niles man convicted of sex charges involving 13-year-old

A jury found Anthony J. Whitacre, 23, of Indiana Avenue in Niles guilty of two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.

Staff report

WARREN

At the end of a five-day trial Friday, a Trumbull County Common Pleas Court jury found Anthony J. Whitacre, 23, of Indiana Avenue in Niles guilty of two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.

Whitacre, who was placed in the county jail to await sentencing March 18, could get up to three years in prison.

Prosecutors said Whitacre had sexual intercourse and engaged in oral sex with a 13-year-old girl May 2, 2010, near Murphy Park in Niles when Whitacre was 20 years old.

Whitacre used no force against the girl, but a child 13 years of age isn’t legally able to give consent to sex, said Diane Barber, assistant Trumbull County prosecutor, who prosecuted the case.

Sexual conduct involving a child under 13 is rape, while the same conduct with a child 13 to 15 is unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, Barber said.

The girl had only turned 13 seven weeks before the incident, Barber noted. Whitacre said he’d known the girl for seven to eight years, Barber added.

Presiding over the case was Judge Peter Kontos.

The jury deliberated only 45 minutes before returning the guilty verdicts.