Convicted serial rapist pleads not guilty to felony charges

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A serial rapist accused of a Poland Township Park sexual assault pleaded not guilty Tuesday morning in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Shawn M. Wendling, 38, of Hillsville, Pa., faces felony counts of rape, kidnapping and aggravated robbery as well as a count of felonious assault in Mahoning County.

He was sentenced to 30 years in prison last month in Portage County court for similar assaults along Berlin Lake Trail involving two women June 14 and Aug. 13.

DNA samples obtained from those assaults linked Wendling to the assault of a Poland Township woman who claimed she was raped and robbed while jogging Sept. 4, as well as at least two other Stark County rapes last summer.

Wendling was arrested Sept. 7 during a traffic stop along U.S. Route 224 in Poland Township.

He remains in the Mahoning County jail without bond. His case was assigned to Judge Anthony D’Apolito.