Prosecutors say rape case against Seman will proceed

YOUNGSTOWN — Prosecutors filed a motion in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court telling Judge Maureen Sweeney a rape case against a man in which the accuser died in a fire the day his trial was to begin still can go forward.

The motion, filed today, says the accuser, Corinne Gump, 10, who died along with her grandparents Judith and William Schmidt in a fire March 30 at the Schmidts’ Powers Way home, made statements to medical personnel who examined her after she told officials that Robert Seman, 46, of West Calla Road in Green Township, had abused her repeatedly from the time she was 4 or 5 until she was 9.

Those statements to medical personnel are exceptions to the hearsay rule, prosecutors say.

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