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Jury deliberates in child rape case
By Justin Wier
YOUNGSTOWN
Jurors will resume deliberations at 9:30 a.m. today in the case of a Boardman man accused of raping a 12-year-old family member who has special needs.
Eric Damore, 44, of Boardman faces charges of rape and gross sexual imposition. If found guilty, he could face life in prison.
The crimes in question are said to have occurred when the victim, who has autism and developmental disabilities, spent the night at his house in October 2014.
“Who better to prey upon than a special-needs child?” Jennifer McLaughin, an assistant Mahoning County prosecutor, asked in her closing statement Thursday.
McLaughlin said while there were inconsistencies in the victim’s story, the sexual assault remains burned in the child’s mind.
Defense attorney John Juhasz argued the prosecutor’s office did not take the case seriously. Sheets and clothing from the alleged assault were never collected.
“It’s hard not to feel sorry for [the victim] for the hand that she was dealt, but this case cannot be decided on sympathy,” Juhasz told the jury. “It’s decided on facts.”
He questioned the victim’s credibility because of her medical conditions. He also outlined discrepancies between what she told investigators in 2014 and her testimony in court.
“She makes things up. She lies. She hears voices. The voices told her to do bad things,” Juhasz said.
He said jurors have a responsibility to find Damore not guilty because reasonable doubts remain.
McLaughlin responded the victim should not be punished because her family waited to report the assault and police did not collect evidence.
She further argued it’s unlikely the victim fabricated the allegations.
“She kept this lie going for three years to frame [a relative] that she loved?” she asked. “Does that make any sense?”
Damore’s story is in question because he consumed four beers the night of the allegations, she said.
Because the victim has special needs, McLaughlin argued she is more vulnerable and the law should protect her.
“We can’t give him a pass because the victim has special needs,” she said.
Earlier, Damore said he told his mother he couldn’t believe what was happening to him when the accusations surfaced.
He denied the allegations and also disputed earlier testimony from both his mother and the victim’s mother. They said Damore told them in a phone conversation he couldn’t remember what happened that night. He testified he did not say that.
He was emotional during the phone conversation because “I was accused of something that I did not do,” he testified.