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Staff report
WARREN -- Homeless man Francisco J. Flores, 38, pleaded guilty to felony gross sexual imposition and abduction and misdemeanor criminal child enticement Thursday for two child luring cases involving teen girls at a Warren gas station May 24.
Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge Cynthia Wescott sentenced Flores to two years in prison. Flores is also now required to register as a sex offender once per year for 15 years. Flores also faces possible deportation.
The case involved two separate child-luring cases at the Pit Stop gas station on Youngstown Road SE.
According to a police report, Warren officers were called to the Pit Stop for two men trying to talk to a 15-year-old girl.
The report states the men offered the girl money to go with them and tried to grab her, eventually leaving in a gray SUV. Flores was not directly named in the report, but was named as one of the involved persons.
A second report, taken May 26, states that a man brought his 13-year-old granddaughter to the police station, stating that he was told about an incident at Pit Stop over the weekend.
The man showed the officer a video circulating on social media of his granddaughter being accosted by an unknown man, mentioning that officers made an arrest on the same man in a different incident.
The girl said she was visiting her aunt when she walked over to the gas station to get some snacks, explaining that a Hispanic man, later identified as Flores, followed her into the store and followed her around, according to the report.
The report states the man threw a $100 bill down to buy her stuff, but she declined the offer. The report states Flores was using an interpreter app and spoke into his phone. The teen told the officer that the man kept asking her to come to his house or into his car, which she rejected, and was trying to leave.
The man said he wanted a woman to be his friend, and when she tried to leave, he held out his arm and would not allow her to move, the report states. The video shows Flores leaning in to try and kiss her, and she turned her head and tried to leave, but the man kept her pinned against the wall.
The report states the man seemed to turn and the girl was able to get out of the store, but the man started to follow her. An unidentified man walked outside and called her back into the store to keep her away from the man.
OTHER SENTENCINGS
Also Thursday, Judge Ronald Rice sentenced Devin Grossbeck, 33, of Solar Street NW to 18 months in prison after Grossbeck was convicted of third-degree felony burglary and two counts of domestic violence.
The case involved a June 9 incident in Warren. The judge stated that Grossbeck deserved prison because of his lack of genuine remorse and his high-risk rating to reoffend.
Rice also sentenced Johnny A. Kline Jr., 45, of Oak Street SW to 4 1/2 years in prison after Kline was convicted of a third-degree felony domestic violence charge. This was Kline's third conviction for domestic violence.
The victim told Rice she still fears Kline because he tried to contact her from jail. The judge said prison was necessary because of Kline's history of violent offenses and other crimes since age 18.