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WARREN -- A 10-years-to-life sentence was handed down to a Girard man after he pleaded guilty to sex offenses against two boys to whom police said he was giving gifts for sexual favors.
Jack Ryan Zeigler, 23, of Avon Avenue, appeared before Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Ronald J. Rice on Tuesday and received the sentence on 10 counts of rape and child sex charges. Rice ruled that Zeigler will have to register as a Tier 3 sex offender.
Zeigler was indicted by a Trumbull County grand jury in September on three counts of rape that each carried potential life sentences, four counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, two counts of compelling prostitution and one count of gross sexual imposition.
Police said the offenses were reported by a parent in late July 2022 and had been happening over two years. The gifts included gift cards and other items, according to a police report.
Assistant Prosecutor Gabriel Wildman said Zeigler had been engaged in a sexual relationship with a boy before the child's 13th birthday, which Wildman told the court was reflected in the three counts of rape. As the child aged, Wildman explained the crime became unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, as reflected in the compelling prostitution and gross sexual imposition charges.
Wildman also told the court that Zeigler touched the genitals of the younger brother of one his victims.
Both would have testified had the case gone to trial, Wildman said.