Guilty on sex counts
Warren man, 78, convicted of raping 10-year-old relative
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WARREN -- A Trumbull County jury on Tuesday convicted 78-year-old Jose Gaetan of Warren for raping a 10-year-old girl relative over a three-year period.
Gaetan was found guilty on seven of the eight charges after about two hours of deliberations by the jury. The charges included two counts of rape carrying a life sentence and five counts of gross sexual imposition.
The jury returned a not-guilty verdict on a single charge of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles. Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor explained that charge revolved around an allegation from the child that Gaetan showed her a pornographic video of two adults engaged in sex acts.
Speaking after the verdict, Wildman said he was pleased with the jurors' decision.
"Ultimately, the victim in this case is the reason that we were able to obtain a conviction, she showed incredible courage taking the stand to tell the truth about what this man did to her," Wildman said, further stating that it was his honor to help tell her story.
Wildman said the Trumbull County Prosecutor's Office will continue to stand up for victims of sexual abuse.
Wildman said, "We will continue to aggressively prosecute these cases and seek lengthy prison sentences for anyone who sexually abuses an innocent child."
During his closing arguments, Wildman walked the jurors down a pattern of what he called "grooming" behavior exhibited by Gaetan toward the minor victim that began with him showering with the girl at as young as 5-years-old.
"As she ages, this conduct progresses and escalates," Wildman said, describing how from ages 5 to 9, kissing eventually led to Gaetan making the victim touch his genitalia.
Wildman said, "He's supposed to be the person that takes care of her. He's someone she trusts and he violated that trust."
Eventually, Wildman said the victim reported that Gaetan stuck his tongue in her private areas, which resulted in the two rape charges against him.
Wildman said the victim "delays disclosures," eventually telling another juvenile relative that Gaetan had been "touching her private parts."
After she asked to stop being around Gaetan she nicknamed him the "uncomfortable man," which she testified to Monday.
The sexual abuse came to a head when the victim, at age 9, told her parents, leading to them reporting the incidents to police in mid-Feburary 2023.
The defense for Gaetan characterized the case against his client as one of "not accountability but overreaching," particularly in regard to the charge of disseminating for which Gaetan was found not guilty.
Two jurors who wished to remain anonymous told a reporter that "conflicting stories" told by Gaetan during his testimony on Tuesday led them to believe he was guilty.
In particular, the jurors took issue with Gaetan's remarks about being spied on by the minor victim while he was in the shower, noting the change in the method in which he said she went about the spying.
"First he said it was a crack in the door, but then later he mentioned she spied through a hole in the wall," one juror said.
The jurors also found it "strange" that when Gaetan testified, he admitted that he would sleep in the same bed as the child victim when he babysat her.
After reading the verdict, Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Ronald J. Rice said sentencing will be scheduled at 11 a.m. Feb. 8. He revoked bond for Gaetan, and Gaetan was taken away in handcuffs to the Trumbull County jail.