Florida man sentenced to prison in Highland County rape case

A Florida man was sentenced Wednesday in Highland County Common Pleas Court to at least eight years in prison in connection with the alleged rape of an area juvenile.

Nicholas V. Tobin, 37, of Lehigh Acres, Fla. was indicted by a Highland County grand jury in February and charged with one count of rape, a first-degree felony; and one count of sexual battery, a third-degree felony.

According to court records, Tobin entered an Alford plea of guilty to the rape charge in April, with the sexual battery charge dismissed. In an Alford plea, “the defendant does not admit guilt, although does concede that prosecutors have enough evidence for a conviction,” according to the Court News Ohio legal glossary.

The indictment alleged that in December 2022, Tobin “did engage in sexual conduct with” a victim, allegedly “purposely compelling” the victim “to submit by force or threat of force.”

Under that particular rape statute, the minimum sentence is three years and maximum is 16.5 years, according to the plea agreement. Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins asked Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss to impose a sentence of “at least” eight years in this case.

Collins told Coss that the victim was a juvenile under the age of 18 when the offense allegedly occurred and that investigators allegedly found Tobin’s DNA in the victim’s clothing.

The prosecutor added that Tobin moved to Florida a day and a half after the incident was alleged to have occurred and that local law enforcement officers drove to Florida to arrest Tobin “so he could be held accountable for this action.”

Defense attorney Dennis Kirk and Tobin himself both asked the judge for leniency, as Kirk cited Tobin’s lack of criminal history.

“This appears to be a one-time incident,” Kirk said. “Eight years seems rather harsh.”

Kirk also explained that Tobin “has family in Florida” and told the judge that Tobin reportedly “was completely cooperative” with officers during his arrest and transport back to Ohio.

Tobin told he judge he was “not a troublemaker” and spoke about his good qualities and faith.

“Whatever comes of this day, I will continue to work hard and pray,” he said. “God bless you all. Jesus and I love you.”

However, Coss said the “only way to describe” the alleged offense was as “an attack” on the victim, calling it a “violation of this child.

“I don’t think it was a coincidence you took off to the state of Florida shortly afterward, because you had plenty of family members here,” Coss told Tobin.

The judge sentenced Tobin to a minimum of eight years in prison, with jail time credit of 113 days. Under the Reagan Tokes Law, Tobin could serve up to 12 years.

In addition, Tobin will be classified as a tier III sex offender, requiring registration every 90 days for life.

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