A jury deliberated for about 90 minutes on June 17 without reaching a verdict in the rape trial of Jacobi Anderson.
The eight-woman, four-man panel got the case around 3:20 p.m. and stopped around 5 p.m. Jurors will return at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Anderson, 22, of Mansfield, faces three counts of rape, three counts of sexual battery, three counts of gross sexual imposition and two counts of strangulation.
If convicted of rape, Anderson could be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole because the girl was under 10. He frequently babysat the accuser.
Prosecutors claim the offenses happened between April 2022 and August 2024, when the girl was 5-7.
The state rested its case at the beginning of Wednesday’s session in Richland County Common Pleas Court.
Defendant testifies
Anderson followed by taking the stand on his own behalf. Defense Attorney Anthony Koukoutas asked him a series of questions, including how the girl got chlamydia.
Anderson said he had no idea.
He told his defense attorney that he sometimes had sex in the home with his girlfriend, as well as another woman. Anderson tested positive for chlamydia several days after the accuser made her allegations and tested positive for the STD in 2024.
Koukoutas asked the defendant how many times he had oral, vaginal and anal sex with the girl or touched her in a sexual manner.
“None,” Anderson replied each time.
Anderson testified he babysat mainly on weekends.
Accusations against the defendant first surfaced in 2022. Anderson talked to Richland County Children Services and a Mansfield police detective.
He was not charged and said the girl’s mother subsequently allowed him to be around her children.
Assistant Prosecutor Lauryn Calderhead then took her turn on cross-examination.
“To be clear, you’re saying (the accuser) lied?” she asked.
“Yes,” Anderson replied.
Calderhead went through the allegations, asking Anderson if he stopped having anal sex with the girl when she said she was in pain.
“I never done it, so I wouldn’t know,” Anderson said.
He also denied choking the girl.
“I would not rough-play with any toddlers,” the defendant told Calderhead. “I am not a violent person.”
State calls 2 rebuttal witnesses to discount Anderson’s testimony
Following Anderson’s testimony, the assistant prosecutor called two rebuttal witnesses, including the girl’s godmother.
Anderson had reached out to her on social media, saying he wanted to come to a “cordial agreement” with the girl’s mother. The godmother said the agreement concerned the allegations.
When he testified on direct examination, Anderson said the proposed agreement related to car parts he had ordered for the vehicle of the girl’s mother. He said he wanted either his money or the parts back.
The godmother, who also testified Tuesday, became emotional as she recounted what the girl said Anderson did to her. She said the girl talked about oral sex.
“The conversation got real uncomfortable for me, so I cut it short,” the godmother said.
Calderhead also called the girl’s great-grandmother to the witness stand. Like the godmother, she had previously testified.
When she picked up the girl one day, the great-grandmother said the accuser told her what Anderson had allegedly done to her.
“She said he’s doing things to me,” the godmother said. “He’s touching my private area. He has me doing things that I shouldn’t be doing.”
Like the godmother, the woman became emotional during her testimony.
Koukoutas did not cross-examine either witness, leading to closing arguments.
Calderhead said chlamydia is transmitted through sexual contact.
“How many 7-year-olds do you know that have chlamydia?” she asked of the jury.
The assistant prosecutor went into detail about the allegations.
“I’m going to be so graphic, but that is my burden,” Calderhead said.
She said the aftermath of the girl’s life offered proof she had been sexually abused. The accuser attempted suicide at 7 and struggled in school.
In his closing, Koukoutas urged jurors to keep their oath by considering the case objectively. He said if they acted out of sympathy or anger, they would be breaking their promise.
“I know it’s difficult,” Koukoutas said.
He said his client faces the equivalent of a stacked deck.
“As long as you’re an adult and a child accuses you of something, you’re screwed,” Koukoutas said.
Referencing previous testimony, he said chlamydia can survive outside the body for 30 minutes. The defense attorney said the girl could have picked it up by touching a surface.
“The easiest thing in the world is to fill out the (verdict) forms without discussing the case,” Koukoutas told the jury. “I’m asking you to put aside sympathy, to put aside anger.”
Reach Mark Caudill at 419-521-7219 or via X at @MarkCau32059251.
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Jurors in deliberation for Anderson rape trial as arguments wrap up
Reporting by Mark Caudill, Mansfield News Journal / Mansfield News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Mark Caudill, Mansfield News Journal | USA TODAY Network
