BUCYRUS—Damion Coleman, 19, of Bucyrus, appeared in Crawford County Common Pleas Court on Friday. He pleaded guilty to one count of felonious assault, a felony of the fifth degree punishable with up to 8 years in prison.
Coleman was originally charged with rape, a first-degree felony punishable with up to 11 years in prison.
The plea agreement was in cooperation with the victim, but Judge Leuthold wanted to put on the record the allegations that led to the amended charges:
“The defendant forced his hands down the victim’s pants even though she told him clearly that that was not acceptable, and she didn’t want that to happen. They negotiate a plea is with the victim’s approval, “Leuthold said.
Before pronouncing sentence on the defendant, Judge Leuthold took a statement from the victim, which in part said:
“Damion, I dreaded this day. I never asked for any of this to happen or deserved it. You made me question good people. I know it’s hard to understand because you’re a selfish man.
You’ve always had everything handed to you. Do you realize how much your 30 minutes of selfish pleasure has affected me? There is nothing that could possibly make me understand what you did to me. I have to ask why was it you decided that your urges were more important than me screaming and saying stop. Today I’m going to walk out of this courtroom a new person. I am not letting you have a hold on me no more. I have so much of my life ahead of me. I hope you regret this.”
Judge Leuthold ask for statements from the state and defense. Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Hoovler told the court:
“Your Honor, you heard from the victim. I can’t say it any more eloquently than she has. It is a shame that a 15-year-old girl was placed in a situation that was unfair to her. It is said that this case has a 15-year-old victim that was placed in a situation that’s not fair to her. I hope that while he is sitting in prison, Mr. Coleman realizes that this is not the path he wants to live for the rest of his life. I hope he takes this opportunity and realizes what he did to this little girl.”
Neither Coleman or his attorney Joel Spitzer had comments.
Judge Leuthold then addressed the gallery and the defendant:
“The victim’s parents should be very proud of her. It takes a lot of courage to come in here and say things like this. I know it can be embarrassing, even though it is clearly not your fault. You are not to be blamed for any of this but are the victim of an awful crime. I want to be clear that the victim was involved in this plea negotiation. I’m not going to yell and scream at the defendant, but there are certain things in life you simply do not do. What you’ve done is assault a young woman, ignored her pain, ignored her statements, and treated her as though she is something less of a human being. It’s just not acceptable. It’s wrong what you did to this young girl was absolutely terrible. She deserves respect. She deserves to be heard. She deserves to be treated In an appropriate way. You did none of those things. What you did was cross the line between bad behavior and criminal charges; at this point, a felony of the second degree.”
Judge Leuthold accepted the plea negotiation and sentenced Coleman to four years in prison. Because of the nature of the assault, according to the Reagan Tokes Act, based on his behavior in prison, Coleman could receive up to another two years in prison. If he exhibits exemplary behavior, the Ohio Department of Corrections can reduce his sentence by up to 15%. Coleman will be placed on three years of post-release control upon completion of his sentence.