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Sex criminals plead guilty
YOUNGSTOWN
Two Campbell men who pleaded guilty to sex crimes Thursday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, will be sentenced later this summer.
Paris L. Wright, 22, of Whipple Avenue, who was initially charged with the rape of a 12-year-old girl in his residence in 2012, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of gross sexual imposition.
The prosecution and defense are jointly recommending a three-year prison term for him, with no early judicial release, when Judge Maureen A. Sweeney sentences him at 9 a.m. July 29.
On the GSI charge, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Had he been convicted of the rape charge, for which he was scheduled to go on trial Monday, he could have faced a life prison term because of the young age of the victim.
Judge Sweeney had issued a bench warrant for Wright’s arrest when he failed to appear for a Wednesday pre-trial hearing; and he was arrested on it when he appeared in the county courthouse several hours later.
After Wright pleaded guilty to the reduced charge Thursday, the judge allowed him to remain free on bond pending sentencing.
In an unrelated case, Jason E. Gruber, 36, of Woodland Avenue, pleaded guilty to 10 counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor and remains jailed pending his sentencing by Judge Shirley J. Christian at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 24.
Two of the counts Gruber pleaded guilty to allege he disseminated child pornography Dec. 3, 2015.
The other eight counts he pleaded guilty to allege he possessed child-pornography videos and images Feb. 18, 2016.
The prosecution dismissed an additional 40 pandering obscenity counts that alleged possession of child porn.
The prosecution is recommending 10 years in prison for Gruber, who has no prior criminal record and whose case was investigated by the cybercrimes unit of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Jennifer McLaughlin, an assistant county prosecutor, said she consistently recommends long prison terms for those who possess and share child porn.
“We need to incarcerate these people to get them out of circulation so that they don’t actually progress to touching children,” she said.
“Just the harm that’s being done here to the children that are in those videos is so great that he needs to be punished for perpetuating this cycle, where child pornography is being shared,” she added.
Wright and Gruber must register as sex offenders every six months for 25 years.