A Canton man pleaded guilty to raping two young boys and was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday.
Richard L. Merryman, 21, was charged with two counts of rape and one count of kidnapping after he molested a 4-year-old boy and a 5-year-old boy at the Albany Community Center last year, according to court documents.
On April 2, 2011, Merryman secured himself in a bathroom stall with the 5-year-old boy. He then pulled down the boy’s pants, touched his buttock and performed oral sex on him, according to court documents.
Merryman also placed his finger in the anus of the 4-year-old boy on the same day, according to court documents.
In May, Athens County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael Ward determined that Merryman was competent to stand trial. In court Wednesday, Merryman’s attorney Glenn T. Jones filed a second competency motion for his client.
“If the court is to find him competent, my client will change his plea,” Jones said.
Ward denied the motion, finding Merryman again competent to stand trial.
Merryman then pleaded guilty to the three-count indictment.
Prior to sentencing, a statement by the 5-year-old victim’s father was read, which said that incarcerating Merryman would “help to bring some closure” to the family.
Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn asked Ward for a sentence of 10 years to life in prison for each charge of rape, a first-degree felony, as well as 10 years in prison for the kidnapping charge, also a first-degree felony.
Ward sentenced Merryman to the requested sentence, and all three will run concurrently — meaning Merryman received life in prison with the possibility of parole after 10 years.
Should Merryman make parole, he must register as a tier-three sexual offender — meaning he must provide his phone number, place of residence and license plate number every 90 days to his local sheriff’s office. If he violates the terms of this registration, he may face a maximum of nine more months in prison.
Merryman has the right to appeal his sentencing using an attorney from the State Public Defender’s Office.
Merryman could have been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole if he was convicted at a trial, according to the Ohio Revised Code.
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