Boy faces charges


Boy faces charges

WARREN

A Warren police detective filed four counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty against a boy, 16, Wednesday in Trumbull County Juvenile Court who is accused of having sex with a dog.

The boy could not be charged under the city’s new bestiality ordinance because the crimes are purported to have occurred before the law was approved in June, an official with the Warren Police Department said.

The boy is in the custody of Trumbull County Children Services, which learned of the purported offenses and reported it recently to the Warren Police Department.

The boy was living on Homewood Avenue Southeast at the time of the offenses reportedly occurred but does not live there anymore, police said.

Teacher charged

AUSTINTOWN

A substitute teacher at Austintown Fitch High School was charged Wednesday with tampering with evidence and illegal possession of a prescription drugs.

According to a schools news release, Brent Davis was charged as a result of a student alerting the school resource office about purported inappropriate behavior, including allegations of pictures being taken of students while in the classroom.

Reports said the teacher tampered with his cellphone after he was asked to place it on the table and not touch it. Upon further investigation, officers found four prescription pills on the teacher. The substitute has been banned from the district premises.

Sentenced for rape

WARREN

James A. Nichols, 62, of Meadowbrook Drive in Leavittsburg, was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to three counts of rape and two counts of gross sexual imposition involving a girl, 7.

The offenses occurred last summer in Leavittsburg, said Diane Barber, assistant Trumbull County prosecutor. The crimes were investigated by a detective with the Warren Township Police Department and Trumbull County Children Services.

Couple arrested

YOUNGSTOWN

A man and woman secretly indicted Sept. 22 by a Mahoning County grand jury for helping to cause the overdose death of a man were arrested Tuesday by U.S. marshals.

Marisha Robinson, 26, and Jesse Kellum, 28, each of the 2000 block of McCartney Road, are in the county jail on charges of permitting drug abuse and involuntary manslaughter in the July 20 death of Matthew R. Godfrey, no age given, who died of an overdose of drugs.

The indictment against the pair said that the two contributed to the death of Godfrey by allowing drug use in their home.

Woman arraigned

YOUNGSTOWN

A Warren woman is in the Mahoning County jail on $15,000 bond after she was arraigned Wednesday in municipal court on drug charges.

Mellisa Mills, 27, was arrested about 3:50 p.m. Monday in a driveway in the 300 block of East Lucius Avenue after reports said she was a passenger in a car pulled over for an improper turn and police found 740 painkillers and $2,673 cash on her when she was searched.

Reports said Mills was searched after she was ordered out of the car, as it was to be towed because the driver has a suspended license.

More Digest on A5