Greenfield man found guilty of rape sentenced to 20 years to life in prison

A Greenfield man was sentenced Monday to a minimum of 20 years in prison, after a jury found him guilty of raping a juvenile.

Following a trial that lasted under three hours, it took the jury seated in Highland County Common Pleas Court half an hour to find Gary Lee Pettiford, 71, guilty of two counts of rape, both first-degree felonies. He was subsequently sentenced by Judge Rocky Coss to 20 years to life in prison.

An indictment handed down by a Highland County grand jury in July alleged that on or about May 24 and in Highland County, Pettiford “did engage in sexual conduct” with a victim under the age of 13.

During her opening statement to the jury, Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins explained that Pettiford had two children in his home at the time of the incident, and that he gave them both alcohol and asked them to dance with him. Pettiford then tried to kiss both juveniles, with one managing to leave the room. “Within seconds” of kissing the victim in this case, the victim’s clothing was removed, Collins said.

The two counts of rape were for two different allegations of sexual conduct performed by Pettiford on the same date, according to the prosecutor.

The other juvenile ran out and found help, eventually reporting the incident to police. Officers from the Greenfield Police Department responded to the scene and found Pettiford and the victim “naked from the waist down,” Collins said.

“There is an old saying that a person is caught with their pants down when they are surprised by something shocking, when they are unprepared,” Collins told the jury. “In this case, Gary Pettiford was literally caught with his pants down because he had been raping [the victim].”

Defense attorney Jeffery Blosser reminded the jury to hold the state to their burden when reviewing the evidence.

“It’s not up to Mr. Pettiford to prove his innocence,” Blosser told the jury. He’s innocent up until the state can prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

“I’m confident you are going to make the right choice and find Mr. Pettiford not guilty.”

The jury was seated around 10 a.m., and the state was finished presenting evidence at 11:45 a.m. However, their case included testimony from several individuals who assisted with the investigation, as well as from the victim and two other juveniles.

The state’s expert witness in DNA analysis — Amy Wanken, a forensic scientist from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation — testified about finding the victim's DNA in Pettiford's underwear. Jaimie McCown, a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner, also testified about her examination of the victim.

The other juvenile at the scene testified about the events they witnessed. The child reported that Pettiford had given them whiskey and “THC gummies” and offered them money to dance. He then “shut the blinds and locked the doors” of the house. The juvenile ran from the scene and found the third juvenile who testified Monday. That individual said the second juvenile was crying and repeating “three different statements,” including about something happening to the victim at Pettiford’s house.

The victim then took the stand, also speaking about being given alcohol and being asked to dance before describing being raped. The victim remembered hearing “a really loud knock,” when the police arrived at the scene.

Both Greenfield Police officers who responded to Pettiford’s home also testified. Officer Daniel Rogers said that the second juvenile had reported being touched, and the victim being raped. The juvenile was “extremely distraught,” Greenfield Sgt. Jay Beatty said. Although the juvenile referred to Pettiford by a nickname, Beatty knew to whom the juvenile was referring.

Both Rogers and Beatty reviewed photos of the scene, as Rogers went to the back of the home and Beatty approached the front of the house to attempt to make entry, they said. Beatty said he was initially unable to see into the home, due to Pettiford having the blinds shut, but when Pettiford got up to see who was at the door, both Pettiford and the victim were naked from the waist down.  

After the jury was dismissed for an hour, the trial resumed at 1:05 p.m. with jury instructions, with the defense declining to present evidence. An onlooker was also removed from the courtroom during the judge’s reading of the instructions.

Blosser again spoke about Pettiford’s “right to a presumption of innocence” during his closing arguments. He reviewed the different witnesses who testified and attempted to plant doubt in the jurors’ minds, by pointing out that the victim’s friend didn’t immediately contact police, that the expert witness could not explain that the DNA got into the victim’s underwear and that it “didn’t make sense” that Pettiford would “answer the door and not pull up his pants.”

Blosser reminded the jury that their job wasn’t to find out if it was “likely,” “possible” or “even that it’s probable that it happened … it’s beyond a reasonable doubt.

“If you decide the state hasn’t met its burden, as distasteful as it may be, you have to find the defendant not guilty,” Blosser said. “That’s the standard.”

Collins pointed out that neither the victim, nor the other witnesses, had anything “to gain or lose” from their testimony Monday. In addition, the victim was subject to “repeated questioning,” a sexual assault exam and having to testify in court, the prosecutor said.

“There’s no reason for a child to make this up and come forward and be put through that,” Collins told the jury. “There’s just not.”

Collins again made a reference to the phrase “being caught with your pants down.”

“The defendant was literally caught with his pants down, and it means that he’s guilty,” Collins said. “He’s guilty of two counts of rape.”

The jury received the case at 1:50 p.m., and by 2:20 p.m., counsel was back in the courtroom to hear the verdicts read. Coss accepted the verdicts, then thanked and dismissed the jury before continuing with sentencing.

Coss first explained that Pettiford will be classified as a tier III sex offender, requiring registration every 90 days for life. He then sentenced Pettiford to 10 years to life on each count, to run consecutively, for a minimum of 20 years to life in prison. Pettiford had 87 days of jail time credit.

“I know that you’re 71 years old,” Coss told Pettiford. “The purpose is to protect the public because of the nature of these offenses.”