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WARREN -- A Trumbull County jury deliberated for about two hours Wednesday before going home for the night without a verdict in the trial of a Cleveland area man facing five felony charges linked to the sexual assault of a pre-teen girl.
The jury of seven women and five men will retuun this morning to the courtroom of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge Peter J. Kontos to deliberate the fate of Craig Gillette, 29.
Gillette, who was last living in Bedford, is charged with two counts of rape and three counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. If found guilty of the rape charges, the defendant could get a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Testimony in the three-day trial centered around allegations of sexual intercourse with a girl who was age 12 in the fall of 2012. The sexual activity continued through October 2013 in two locations, a Beal Street NW address in Warren and in Bristolville.
The victim, who is now 17, testified, saying the relationship was consensual, but assistant Trumbull County Prosecutor Diane Barber told the jury that age 16 is the age of consent in Ohio and the defendant took advantage of a bad situation in which the victim was also involved in another sexual assault case.
State testimony included a video of the defendant's interview with Warren police detective Nick Carney, in which Gillette is shown making several incriminating statements.
Defense attorney Sarah Kovoor, however, questioned the credibility of the victim.
"Her testimony was littered with a lot of 'I don't know' and 'I don't remember,'" Kovoor said.
Kovoor also said there was no DNA or forensic evidence linking the girl to her client. Kovoor, in closing arguments, said the victim was in love with the defendant and did not willingly come forward with the allegations until some 18 months after the last encounter.
Gillette was indicted secretly in May 2016. Court records show he was labeled a Tier 2 sex offender from a December 2008 conviction on an unlawful sexual conduct conviction in Cuyahoga County. The sex offender status requires him to register his address with the sheriff in his county of residence every six months for 25 years.
gvogrin@tribtoday.com