CANTON ‒ A 59-year-old Alliance man is heading to prison for the rest of his life for raping a girl when she was as young as 3.
Stark County Common Pleas Judge Frank G. Forchione gave Lawrence H. Rupp III the maximum sentence for rape and gross sexual imposition on May 26 following jury verdicts reached on May 21.
“You are a danger to society,” Forchione said. “You are the worst type of monster that exists out there.”
His judgment agreed with that of the victim, who said to Rupp: “You’re a sick monster.”
“I think it’s very clear that Mr. Rupp is certainly a danger to society,” said Assistant Stark County Prosecutor Kelsey R. DiFrancesco.
She said two other alleged victims were identified: One to whom Rupp had confessed, who did not want to participate in the trial, and another who initially chose to assist with the case, but later determined participation would not be good for her mental health.
DiFrancesco asked for one rape charge to be dismissed on the day before the trial due to one victim backing out, and as a result, leading to the conclusion that the state would not be able to meet its burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
Rupp was convicted of crimes committed between Jan. 1, 2001, and Dec. 31, 2007, against a single victim in Alliance.
“Mr. Rupp has evaded justice for these crimes for over 20 years. The last 20 years, he should have been in a prison cell. And he has been out living his life freely,” DiFrancesco said. She asked for the maximum sentence.
“I bet you convinced yourself you were going to get away with this forever,” the victim told Rupp. “I can tell there is so much you want to say to me but can’t. Now you know how I felt my entire childhood: trapped, silenced, alone. My grownups failed me miserably.”
Attorney and sister say defendant has mental shortcomings
Rupp’s sister, Theresa Douds, asked the judge to be lenient in sentencing Rupp. She said their mother had been told by a doctor when he was a child that he would never have anything other than the brain of an 8-year-old. She said he goes out of his way to help people.
Defense attorney George Urban said Rupp’s psychological evaluation determined he has borderline intellectual functioning.
“And unfortunately, I think, those mental shortcomings should be addressed as a part of this court’s sentence,” Urban said. “I would ask you to consider his age. I believe even if the minimum was to be imposed, he would be almost 70 when he was released from prison, if he would be.”
Urban said that anything more than the minimum sentence would be cruel and unusual, given Rupp’s age, education and mental health history and status.
“One of the reasons why I do this is because I firmly believe in my faith that every person has the opportunity to repent from what they’ve done wrong in their life, whether it’s stealing a candy bar from a grocery store or murdering someone and everything in between,” Urban said.
The victim took a different view.
“You don’t get to take innocence from children and get away with it and live a happy life,” she said. “It is not the same as stealing a candy bar.”
She said she forgave Rupp “even though your apology wasn’t genuine.”
“Despite whatever mental health deficiencies he may have, he certainly knew what he was doing was wrong,” DiFrancesco said, adding that the victim suffered through years of abuse. “Her family failed to protect her and truly never believed her, I think, even up to the start of this trial.”
Forchione said that he had read the competency report prepared about Rupp.
“Life 101, that everyone knows, is you don’t do anything to a child,” Forchione said. “Have you no level of decency?”
DiFrancesco said family members had discussed in phone calls their view that the victim was a liar who made up the accusations against Rupp.
Forchione said he listened to recorded telephone calls in which Rupp discussed the rape, in which he said, “You got to let it go,” “The past is the past” and called the victim derogatory names.
The judge said Rupp destroyed the victim’s life and robbed her of her innocence.
“I’ve made it clear in this courtroom and to the community that I do not accept this kind of demented behavior,” he said. “The public relies on me to protect them and make sure this doesn’t happen to another innocent child. Now your very fine lawyer talked about ‘repent.’ And I want to make it clear today: I’m not God. This isn’t your final judgment day. That day will be down the road. But I’m going to order sentence that makes sure you never see the sun rise, and you die by the clanging of the steel doors closing.”
Urban said Rupp plans to appeal his conviction.
Reach Nancy at 330-580-8382 or nancy.molnar@cantonrep.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter: @nmolnarTR.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Canton judge gives life sentence to ‘monster’ for child rape
Reporting by Nancy Molnar, Canton Repository / The Repository
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
