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Youngstown man gets 10 years on child porn charges
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Judge R. Scott Krichbaum called a portion of a pre-sentence report “bunk” that predicted the chances of a man being sentenced to 10 years on child-pornography charges was almost nonexistent.
The judge made the comment just before he sentenced Paul Rektor, 35, of Hollywood Avenue to the 10-year prison term.
Judge Krichbaum said most people who commit the kinds of crimes Rektor pleaded guilty to in January commit them again.
“Frankly, I think when you’ve done what you’ve done, there is a greater chance for recidivism,” Judge Krichbaum said Wednesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Rektor was sentenced on three counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity oriented material and nine counts of pandering sexually explicit material involving a minor. All the charges are second-degree felonies.
Rektor was arrested after members of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, city police and the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office served a search warrant at his home as part of a child-pornography investigation and found images of child pornography on his computer.
Because both defense attorneys and Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer McLaughlin agreed on the sentence, Rektor cannot appeal.
Rektor, who was crying the second he entered the courtroom, apologized to the court, the children in the images and to his family. He said he has been receiving counseling since he was in the jail and will continue when he is released from prison.
“I do accept responsibility,” Rektor said. “I ask that you give me a chance because I can and will do better.”
Rektor was a part-time teacher at Youngstown Christian School when he was arrested, but McLaughlin said he had no contact with any children there, and he passed a polygraph examination given by BCI agents who asked if he ever did have any contact with students or anyone else.
McLaughlin said Rektor was responsible for looking at images, but not actually physically harming others.
McLaughlin did say because of people such as Rektor, a whole industry is fueled by people who victimize children to perform for those images, so a long prison sentence is necessary.
Damian Billak, one of Rektor’s lawyers, asked Judge Krichbaum to uphold the sentencing agreement, saying his client has never been in trouble before, the risk for reoffending is low and that he has taken responsibility since the time he was caught and is getting counseling.
Rektor also was classified as a sexually oriented offender, which means he must register his address with the sheriff of whatever county he lives in every six months for 25 years after he is released from prison.