Franklin County Court of Appeals Reverse Consecutive Sentences

A man was accused of sexually abusing his stepdaughter after she was diagnosed
with genital herpes three years after the alleged abuse began. This case
was tried to jury, and after four days, the jury found him guilty of all
the charges. The defendant in this case was adjudicated guilty for four
counts of gross sexual imposition (3^rd degree felonies), one count of disseminating matter harmful to a juvenile (4^th degree felony) and five counts of rape (1^st degree felonies). Part of the defendant’s sentence included serving
his sexual imposition and rape sentences consecutively, which equated
to a prison term of 70 years to life. He was also sentenced to register
as a Tier III sex offender, the most severe classification of sex offender.
In these sex offense convictions, it was error to impose consecutive sentences
for rape and gross sexual imposition since sentencing took place after
the effective date of H.B. No. 86, and court failed to make the findings
required by R.C. 2929.14(C)(4).