State v. Dehner

2013 Ohio 3576
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided August 19, 2013·No. CA2012-12-090·Published·Cited by 12 cases

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS

TWELFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT OF OHIO CLERMONT COUNTY

STATE OF OHIO, :

Plaintiff-Appellee, : CASE NO. CA2012-12-090

: OPINION

- vs - 8/19/2013 :

RICHARD E. DEHNER, :

Defendant-Appellant. :

CRIMINAL APPEAL FROM CLERMONT COUNTY COURT OF COMMON PLEAS Case No. 2011 CR 01015

D. Vincent Faris, Clermont County Prosecuting Attorney, Judith A. Brant, 76 South Riverside Drive, 2nd Floor, Batavia, Ohio 45103, for plaintiff-appellee

R. Daniel Hannon, Clermont County Public Defender, Robert F. Benintendi, 10 South Third Street, Batavia, Ohio 45103, for defendant-appellant

PIPER, J.

{¶ 1} Defendant-appellant, Richard Dehner, appeals his convictions and sentence in the Clermont County Court of Common Pleas for multiple counts of rape and gross sexual imposition.

{¶ 2} When K.S. was five years old, she and her father, Mark, moved into her paternal grandmother's home because Mark was unable to financially support K.S. and

himself. Mark had custody of K.S. and K.S.'s mother did not have a relationship with her daughter or Mark. K.S.'s grandmother married Dehner, and Dehner became K.S.'s step- grandfather.

{¶ 3} When K.S. was approximately seven years old, she, Mark, K.S.'s grandmother, and Dehner moved into a house together. From the time that Dehner came to live with the family, he became the disciplinarian for K.S., often times leading to altercations with Mark over who should be disciplining K.S. When K.S. would want to visit friends or spend time away from the home, she would have to seek permission from Dehner. Dehner would also help provide K.S. with what she wanted or needed, such as paying fees for extracurricular activities or providing spending money.

{¶ 4} Dehner began inappropriately touching K.S. when she was approximately eight years old. At first, Dehner would touch K.S.'s buttock when she would give him a hug before bedtime. Dehner also played movies with sexual scenes when K.S. was in the room. K.S. stated that Dehner asked her to watch a pornographic video with her, but that the VCR destroyed the tape before they watched the movie together. When K.S. entered junior high, at approximately 10 or 11 years old, the touching and inappropriate behavior escalated.

{¶ 5} On Wednesday nights, K.S.'s grandmother and Mark would go to bingo, leaving Dehner and K.S. alone in the house together. During this time, Dehner would come to where K.S. was sitting on the couch watching television, and begin to rub her legs and back. Dehner would then move his hand beneath K.S.'s shorts and rub her buttocks. Dehner would also touch K.S. on her breasts. This type of touching occurred for approximately two years on a weekly basis.

{¶ 6} When K.S. entered high school, the touching escalated. On one occasion, K.S.

was home from school and Dehner came home early from work. K.S. was watching television, and Dehner sat next to her on the floor. He began rubbing her arms, and moved

closer to her. He then left, and came back with a jar of Vaseline. Dehner removed K.S.'s pants and "pried" her legs open. Dehner then inserted his middle finger into the Vaseline and then inserted it into K.S.'s vagina. K.S. tried to push Dehner away, but Dehner was six feet tall and weighed 250 pounds compared to K.S. who was 5'2" and weighed 115 pounds. Dehner continued to digitally penetrate K.S. on a monthly basis, and also performed cunnilingus on her. Dehner told K.S. that he was preparing her for future boyfriends and that she had too much estrogen that needed to be released from her body through orgasm.

{¶ 7} During K.S.'s sophomore year, the touching and abuse escalated further. One afternoon after school, Dehner forced K.S. onto the floor and tried to have intercourse with her, but he was unable to maintain an erection so that only the tip of his penis came in contact with K.S.'s vagina. Dehner would then try to initiate intercourse with K.S. at least twice a week. Also during this time, Dehner forced K.S. to perform oral sex on him, and he also inserted his fingers into K.S.'s anus.

{¶ 8} During K.S.'s junior year, the touching and abuse continued. Dehner began keeping a "tab" of monies he spent on K.S. for things that she needed or wanted, and Dehner would make her "repay" the tab through sexual acts. Dehner forced K.S. to perform oral sex acts on him, and also performed "exams" on K.S. when she would complain of physical ailments such as menstrual cramping. On one occasion, Dehner performed an "exam" to determine whether K.S. had a yeast infection. On another occasion when K.S. complained of cramping, Dehner forced her onto the bathroom sink, pried her legs open and used his fingers to determine if "anything looked out of place or wrong in his eyes."

{¶ 9} Also during K.S.'s junior year, she befriended a classmate. K.S. began spending time with the classmate and formed a bond with the classmate's mother. K.S. shared with the classmate's mother that Dehner was molesting her, and the classmate's mother shared that she too had been molested as a child. The classmate became jealous of

the bond shared between her mother and K.S., and wrote K.S. a note stating that she should get over the abuse and face reality. K.S., who read the note before English class, broke down in tears. K.S.'s English teacher came over to K.S. and spoke to her in the hallway. K.S. then recalled the years of molestation and stated that she was ready to report the sexual abuse. K.S.'s English teacher and other school administrators helped K.S. report the sexual abuse, and K.S. gave a statement to a child services agency, as well as the police, and K.S.'s father was informed.

{¶ 10} K.S. left Dehner's home and made up a story that she was staying with a friend.

During that time, K.S. continued to tell police and child services workers about the history of abuse. At one point, Detective John Pavia had K.S. make a "controlled call" whereby K.S. called Dehner and told him that she had recorded all of the sexual abuse in a journal.1 During the call, K.S. brought up specific instances of sexual abuse and then told Dehner that she had written about those instances in the journal. Instead of denying the abuse, Dehner told K.S. that she was wrong for having written about their relations and that those instances were supposed to have been kept between them privately.

{¶ 11} Dehner was arrested and charged with one count of gross sexual imposition and seven counts of rape. Dehner pled not guilty to the charges, and the matter proceeded to a jury trial that had two days of voire dire and five days of testimony. The jury found Dehner guilty of gross sexual imposition and six of the seven counts of rape, and the trial court sentenced him to 45 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. Dehner was also designated a Tier III sexual offender. Dehner now appeals his convictions and sentence, raising four

1. According to Detective Pavia, a "controlled call is basically where someone will come into the police department, normally the victim of an offense, and they would make contact with the defendant or suspect in the case. At that time we would go over the case or she would say stuff about the case to try to elicit a response from the - - from the suspect in the case acknowledging that the offense occurred."

assignments of error. For ease of discussion we will address Dehner's second and third assignments of error together, as they are interrelated.

{¶ 12} Assignment of Error No. 1:

{¶ 13} THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ENTERING A FINDING OF GUILTY ON THE JURY'S VERDICT BECAUSE SUCH VERDICT WAS AGAINST THE MANIFEST WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE.

{¶ 14} Dehner argues in his first assignment of error that his convictions were not supported by the manifest weight of the evidence.

{¶ 15} A manifest weight challenge examines the inclination of the greater amount of credible evidence, offered at a trial, to support one side of the issue rather than the other. State v. Wilson, 12th Dist. Warren No. CA2006-01-007, 2007-Ohio-2298.

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