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Former Mahoning deputy threatened former employers, officials say
By Sarah Lehr
CAMPBELL
An ex-Mahoning County deputy sheriff is behind bars after an investigation into threats against the sheriff and other former co-workers led to charges the man beat and raped a family member.
Richard Rowe, 57, of Campbell is charged with rape, domestic violence, retaliation and aggravated menacing.
A Mahoning County grand jury indicted Rowe on all the charges Thursday. The rape and retaliation charges are felonies.
He is jailed in Trumbull County because of his past affiliations with Mahoning County.
Rowe, a sheriff’s department employee for about 20 years, was fired from his position as deputy in May 2014.
Mahoning County Sheriff Jerry Greene said Rowe was fired for “multiple violations,” citing ongoing behavioral issues.
A relative of Rowe’s told sheriff’s investigators Dec. 30 she was concerned Rowe was going to shoot Greene and other sheriff’s office employees.
“She was petrified for us,” Greene said.
Cellphone recordings from the relative and notes written by Rowe substantiated the threats, Greene said.
“When you’re in law enforcement, you get threatened,” Greene said. “This one was about as real as it gets.”
The investigation also indicated Rowe was involved in a rape and domestic-violence incident Dec. 28, Greene said.
Another family member said Rowe struck her multiple times with a blunt object and made verbal threats before sexually assaulting her, according to a sheriff’s report,
That family member told officers it was not the first time Rowe sexually assaulted her.
Officials took Rowe into custody Dec. 30, using a county probate court order stating Rowe was a danger to himself and others.
On Dec. 31, the sheriff’s office filed a warrant for Rowe’s arrest on a domestic-violence charge through Campbell Municipal Court. Agents with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation searched Rowe’s Piccadilly Street home that day.
After Rowe’s arrest, he was transported to Heartland Behavioral Healthcare in Massillon for psychiatric evaluation.
Rowe was released from the hospital Thursday and immediately was booked into the Mahoning County jail. He has since been moved to the Trumbull County Jail, where he is held without bond.
The BCI is handling the retaliation and aggravated menacing charges against Rowe, and the sheriff’s office is pursuing the rape and domestic-violence charges.
In August 2014, Rowe filed a lawsuit against the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office and three of its employees, including Greene. Rowe claims he was discriminated against because of a “perceived disability.” The civil case is ongoing.
According to a court document prepared by Mark Hanni, an attorney representing Rowe in the lawsuit, Rowe’s supervisors urged him to retire and collect disability because they believed Rowe had health problems.
The document also claims Rowe was subjected to a “pattern of harassment” and that he was wrongfully terminated for a false allegation of sleeping on the job.