Mineral Ridge man gets 29 years in rape plea deal

WARREN — Bernard Weathersbee, 47, of Salt Springs Road in Mineral Ridge, was sentenced to 29 years in prison today in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court after pleading guilty to 17 rapes and other sex charges involving multiple children.

One of Weathersbee’s alleged victims was 4 when the abuse began, prosecutors said.

Weathersbee was scheduled to go to trial today before Judge W. Wyatt McKay, but he pleaded guilty to reduced charges instead. If he would have been convicted of some of the charges he faced, he could have gotten a life prison sentence.