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Suspect in child rape pleads not guilty to bribery
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
The suspect in the rape of a 10-year-old girl, who died in a fire just hours before his trial was to begin, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to two counts of bribery related to that trial.
Robert Seman, 47, of West Calla Road in Green, entered pleas at his arraignment before Judge Shirley J. Christian in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Seman will remain in the Mahoning County jail until he can have a bond hearing. Bond in his rape case was revoked by Judge Maureen Sweeney on March 30 after prosecutors told her they had evidence Seman tried to bribe a witness in his trial to change her story.
The victim in the case, Corinne Gump, 10, and her grandparents, William and Judith Schmidt, died March 30 in a fire at the Schmidts’ Powers Way home hours before Seman’s trial was to begin.
Investigators await results of lab tests on evidence from the fire before ruling on its cause. They also served a search warrant at Seman’s home shortly after the fire, but refused to say why or what they were looking for. The return of the search warrant has remained sealed by judge’s order.
Seman did not speak at the hearing, but his attorney, Thomas Zena, entered the not guilty pleas for him.
Seman is accused of offering his ex-wife money before the trial began to tell prosecutors that the victim lied to them about the abuse. He faces life in prison if convicted, and the case is still pending. A new trial date has not been set yet.
A pretrial hearing in the bribery case is set for Thursday. Judge Sweeney also is expected to have a bond hearing on both charges.
Seman was indicted in the rape case in March 2014 after the child’s mother made a police report. The child’s mother was found in Seman’s home the day of the fire and was questioned by police before being let go.