Kathy Laird
CCN correspondent

BUCYRUS — Martin W. Nolen, 26, of Bucyrus was sentenced in Crawford County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday to a total of 20 years in prison.

Nolen pleaded guilty to one count of rape, a first-degree felony and two counts of gross sexual imposition, both third-degree felonies. Nolen appeared in court with his attorney, Adam Stone. At various times during the sentencing, Nolen could be seen wiping his eyes.

Upon his release from prison, Nolen will be registered as a Tier 3 sex offender and will have to register every 90 days with the sheriff’s department of his county of residence. A community notification will also be issued.

Before passing sentence on Nolen, Judge Sean Leuthold asked for input from the victim, the state and the defense. The first person to speak was Penny Charleston, the grandmother of the victim.

“I am standing here heartbroken because I trusted Martin Nolen. I stand here with a lot that I would like to say but I know it wouldn’t do any good,” Charleston said. “Martin Nolen has known his victim and her siblings their entire short lives. Martin knew what disappointment his victim has lived along with her siblings. He chose to add to this disappointment. His victim and her 10-year-old brother adored Martin and loved him unconditionally.”

Charleston further told the court that her grandson had written Nolen a letter, but she did not mail it. A weeping and heartbroken Charleston had a direct message for Nolen.

“Martin chose to physically and emotionally hurt this beautiful little girl. But I want Martin to know that the hurt doesn’t stop there,” Charleston said. “When he chose to hurt my beautiful granddaughter, he chose to hurt her siblings emotionally, his two adorable sons not having a father, his fiancée no longer has the father of her kids, my family has to live with this hurt and betrayal the rest of our lives. Martin, you will have to live with this the rest of your life and I can only pray you feel the emotional pain you put on this beautiful seven-year-old girl and everyone else.”

Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Hoovler called the seven-year-old victim a very brave little girl. Hoovler talked about how the victim went directly to her grandmother and reported the abuse immediately.

When confronted with the accusation, Nolen concocted a lie to make it seem that the victim asked him to assault her. Hoovler said this pointed to Nolen’s lack of ability to understand that what he had done was wrong.

“Crawford County has done well, and a sex offender is off the streets. My prayer is that this brave little girl’s future will not be shaped by what has happened to her but by the wonderful person she is,” Hoovler said.

Stone told the court he could not begin to imagine the pain the family was experiencing and that this was the most heavily litigated case in his career. Stone had two psychological evaluations performed on Nolen. The second evaluation was completed by Dr. Matthew Fabian, PSY.D., JD., ABPP, whose office is located near Cleveland. Dr. Fabian is a board certified forensic and clinical psychologist. Fabian concluded that, although Nolen’s intelligence level is low, he was competent to stand trial.

Stone told the court that his client suffers from mental health issues. Saying that Nolen came to take responsibility for his actions, he added that his client needed help. Nolen declined to speak.

Leuthold told the packed court room that he had a tough decision to make. He referred to both psychological evaluations and explained that Nolen is intellectually disabled, having an IQ of just 73. Leuthold said that he found the story Nolen concocted when he was faced with the allegations was particularly upsetting.

“He knew what he did was wrong, but he made up a story. I want you all to understand that Mr. Nolen is going to prison but prisons have a screening system to identify the mentally disabled,” Leuthold said. “They are not housed in general population but in a separate area of the prison. I trust this system will reveal Mr. Martin’s disabilities.”

Leuthold commended the bravery displayed by the victim in this case. He sentenced Nolen to 10 years on the gross sexual imposition charges and 10 years on the rape charge.