Prosecutor disappointed by rape trial outcome

News Editor
news@presspublications.com
The sentence in a case involving the rape of a child is disappointing, Paul Dobson, Wood County prosecutor said last week, but with the outcome, the victim won’t have to go through the trauma of testifying again.
Dobson announced that Gregory S. Kamer, Jr., was convicted of rape, a first-degree felony, and sentenced to eight years in prison for sexually assaulting the daughter of a former girlfriend.
Kamer had previously been found guilty in Wood County Common Pleas Court of four counts of rape of a minor and sentenced to four consecutive life terms in prison. However, the Ohio Sixth District Court of Appeals overturned the rape convictions and one count of gross sexual imposition and remanded the case for a new trial because the common pleas court improperly admitted “significant and extensive hearsay and testimony that was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Dobson said the appeals court ruled the testimony of investigators identifying what the victim told them about Kamer’s assaults should not have been admitted at trial. The appeals court also found that the testimony of a second child, who testified Kamer had attacked her in similar fashion, should not have been used to demonstrate that he had committed the acts in question.
“The result of this case is far less than we wanted and far less than he deserves,” Dobson said. “Unfortunately, between the decision of the court of appeals, which would have required us to put that little girl back in front of a jury and other evidentiary problems their decision created, we were forced to seek a different resolution. Kamer was willing to make that victim get back up on the stand again. Somebody besides her mother had to protect her from the re-victimization this would have caused.”
He said he was “humbled by the courage of a heroic girl” and the girl’s family agreed with the prosecution’s decision to not seek another trial.
The girl was 5 years old at the time of the offenses.
“We hope that the prison sentence and Kamer’s obligation to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life will prevent this from happening again,” Dobson said.
According to court records, Kamer was convicted for charges that allegedly occurred between March 1, 2019 and July 29, 2019 but was acquitted of similar charges that allegedly occurred between Dec. 1, 2018 and Feb. 28, 2019.
He was also acquitted of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles.