WARREN — The 11th District Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction and prison sentence of a man who was convicted in February by a Trumbull County jury on seven counts of rape and one count of gross sexual imposition.

Nicholas Clark, 31, was given the maximum penalty of life without parole for sexually abusing two boys, ages 7 and 9, over a period of years at homes in Girard and Niles.

Clark’s appeal challenged the sufficiency of the evidence used to convict him and argued Common Pleas Court Judge Cynthia Rice erred in sentencing him to two consecutive life without parole sentences.

Appeals court Judges Eugene Lucci, Mary Jane Trapp and Robert Patton rejected Clark’s claims, ruling the arguments lacked merit. Clark is jailed at Belmont Correctional Institution.