OTTAWA — Moments after the jury that convicted him of raping a young girl left the courtroom Thursday, Trenton Lauf began spewing profanity — including against the detective who investigated him.
For Assistant Putnam County Prosecutor Todd Schroeder, it was Lauf showing his true colors. It was a side Schroeder said authorities were well aware existed.
“It is consistent of how he has been throughout,” Schroeder said.
The 38-year-old Lauf, of Ottoville, also was convicted of illegal use of a minor in nudity oriented material or performance. He is expected to be sentenced in the next six weeks and faces up to life in prison.
As Judge Randall Basinger read the verdicts, Lauf looked down at the table in front of himself and shook his head in disbelief. After the jury left he started yelling profanity and tried to fight deputies at the courthouse en route to jail. One deputy was cut on the elbow.
The jury took about four and a half hours to deliberate Lauf’s fate. Schroeder said he felt the key evidence was the girl’s testimony. She is 13 now but was between the ages of 10 and 12 when the crimes occurred.
Her testimony also was backed by other witnesses, including her mother, who she told about the crimes multiple times before the mother told authorities.
Besides that, Lauf was caught with pictures of the girl on his cell phone in a partial state of nudity, Schroeder said.
Lauf’s attorney, Bill Kluge, questioned why it took the mother 15 months to come forward.
“It just doesn’t make sense otherwise. What mother wouldn’t immediately try to help her daughter out?” Kluge said.
Kluge also dismissed the cell phone pictures, saying the pictures look more like that taken at a party among friends, not something sexual in nature.
After the verdict, Schroeder said he was thankful for the verdict which is for the victim.
“She is very young. She will be dealing with this for the rest of her life,” he said.
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