GREENVILLE — A Ludlow Falls, Ohio, man appearing Darke County Common Pleas Court Friday was sentenced to three years in prison.
In July, Lonie E. Fourman, 58, avoided a trial by pleading guilty to five counts of gross sexual imposition, all third-degree felonies. He was arrested in April, accused of victimizing two female relatives under the age of nine years old when he was living in Greenville from a period of 2007 to 2012. He abused the first victim for a period of approximately three years. The second victim was reportedly abused for a number of months. Fourman was originally indicted on 15 gross sexual imposition counts which was reduced to five counts in exchange for a guilty plea.
Darke County Assistant Prosecutor Deborah Quigley asked the court to impose a three-year prison sentence on each count, consecutively, for a total of 15 years, saying the Fourman had caused the two victims, and their families, serious physical, emotional and psychological harm.
“The state doesn’t believe the defendant is remorseful for his actions,” Quigley told the court. “In this situation, the defendant was committing these offenses, as he even characterized, ‘hundreds of times.’ The remorse comes now that he’s been caught and being held accountable for what he has done.”
Defense attorney Jose Lopez asked Darke County Common Pleas Court Judge Jonathan P. Hein to sentence his client to the minimum sentence on each count.
Fourman declined to speak in his own defense. Members of Fourman’s family were present in court to witness his sentencing, though none spoke. Judge Hein noted the victims and their families had submitted 18 pages of statements to the court describing the emotional and physical trauma the two victims suffered.
Hein sentenced Fourman to three years in prison on each of the five counts, but concurrently, meaning he will serve three years in prison with 157 days of jail time credited.
Upon release, Fourman will be subject to post-prison control sanctions, including a requirement to register as a Tier II sex offender for a period of 25 years.
