Weathersfield man gets at least 39 years for repeated rapes of teen

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McGhee

Staff report

WARREN

A teenage girl told Brian McGhee in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court she’s not going to let four years of sexual assaults destroy her, even though it made her feel “broken for a while.”

McGhee, 44, of Dogwood Drive Southeast in the Westwood Lake Mobile Home Park in Weathersfield Township, received a prison term of 39 years to life Wednesday after being convicted at trial of 10 counts of rape, six of which carried a life prison sentence.

The girl testified at McGhee’s trial last month, saying McGhee raped her on nearly a daily basis, primarily in McGhee’s pickup truck. Judge Ronald Rice presided over the trial and handed down McGhee’s sentence.

Before sentencing, McGhee told Judge Rice, “I am an innocent man, and I’m going to prove that.” McGhee said he plans to appeal his conviction.

“I let you win for a long time,” the girl said in her statement. “You got what you wanted from me. I let you control my mind. I let you take advantage of me, but it’s over now. For a long time, I felt bad. It took me quite a while to realize this wasn’t my fault,” she said.

“I wish you would have pled guilty and manned up about what you did, but of course you had to make it harder for me. Why did you try to cause me nothing but pain? What did I do that was so wrong?”

“I want you to know the pain you caused me. Fortunately, I’m strong enough to not let this break me. I thought I was broken for a while, but I’m not,” she said.

“I’m not over it, and I never will be, but it’s not destroying me,” she said. “It’s just sad that I’m the only one man enough to be truthful about it. Find a new toy, because I’m not a victim of your abuse anymore.”

Gabe Wildman, assistant Trumbull County prosecutor, asked Judge Rice for a sentence of at least 100 years in prison. Atty. Dan Keating, who represented McGhee, noted that his client has no previous criminal record.