RAVENNA − Opening statements were July 15 in the trial of a Summit County man accused of sexually abusing a girl at an Aurora home over three years.
Kraig Alan Kainec, 57, of Sagamore Hills Township, is accused of sexually assaulting the girl at a Crackel Road home between July 2016, when the girl was 7, and July 2019, according to court records. Kainec faces 10 counts each of first-degree felony rape and third-degree felony gross sexual imposition.
Prosecutor Mitchell Rozaieski told the jury in Judge Becky Doherty’s courtroom the home belonged to Kainec and the girl and her mother lived with him during a time when the mother’s life was “chaotic.” He said the alleged sexual assaults were frequent over the three-year period, with Kainec taking advantage of the girl’s “trust” and “naivete.”
“They shouldn’t have the knowledge of what the world is capable of, what people are capable of,” he said.
Rozaieski said the girl kept the allegations to herself until she told a friend in middle school and then a counselor she was seeing. By that time, the girl and her mother were living in central Ohio. The counselor contacted local law enforcement, which contacted Aurora police.
Following a detective’s investigation, Kainec was arrested in May 2024. A grand jury indictment was filed the next month in Portage County Common Pleas Court.
Rozaieski said it is not uncommon for sexual assault victims to wait years before reporting what happened, if they report it at all.
“These kinds of crimes, this sexual abuse, happens in the shadows,” he said.
Because of this, there is no medical or DNA evidence, no video showing what happened and no eyewitnesses. But, Rozaieski said, the jury will hear testimony from the girl, her mother and her friend.
He said the mother will describe about behavior she saw in her daughter and things her daughter wrote that didn’t make sense until the allegations came out.
Rozaieski said the jury will hear the counselor testify that the girl immediately began disclosing what allegedly happened when they met. He added the jury will see video of a nurse who specializes in children who have reported sexual abuse. A physician, who also specializes in child abuse, also is to testify about “delayed disclosure” by children.
Steven Bradley, one of Kainec’s three attorneys, said the defense will vigorously cross examine the prosecution’s witnesses and then call its own witnesses. He did not elaborate.
Bradley said the girl has alleged that during the three-year period, Kainec typically assaulted her nightly in a bedroom during an hour-long period between the time he went to bed and when the girl’s mother went to bed after playing video games in the living room.
Bradley said the mother never picked up on anything, never caught Kainec abusing her daughter and never found any physical evidence, such as bodily fluids on the bedding or her daughter’s clothing. He alleged the girl’s memories are “false memories.”
“The reason why there’s no witnesses, most notably her mom, and no medical evidence, no physical evidence and no no DNA evidence is not because these instances happened in the shadows,” said Bradley, “but because none of this is grounded in fact and reality.”
He said Kainec is innocent and fighting for his freedom.
“Needless to say, he was shocked and surprised by these allegations,” said Bradley.
Reporter Jeff Saunders can be reached at jsaunders@recordpub.com.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Summit man’s child rape trial starts in Portage County
Reporting by Jeff Saunders, Ravenna Record-Courier / Record-Courier
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By Jeff Saunders, Ravenna Record-Courier | USA TODAY Network
