WAPAKONETA — A St. Marys man was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 18 years after pleading guilty to raping a young girl over a span of several months starting in the fall of 2016.
Dillon Howell, 22, was sentenced by Judge Mark Spees in Auglaize County Common Pleas.
In October, Howell agreed to a plea deal in which prosecutors agreed to drop nine of the 10 rape charges filed against him. He also agreed to plead guilty to pandering obscenity involving a minor for taking pictures of the 12-year-old girl. Auglaize County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Augsburger said the defendant admitted to all the rapes, which occurred at a family household in St. Marys between Sept. 16, 2016, and March of this year.
Augsburger had asked Spees to impose the maximum allowable penalty on Howell, who will also be required to register as a tier 3 sex offender. The assistant prosecuting attorney, who earlier this month was elected to succeed Judge Gary Herman as judge of the Auglaize County Municipal Court, said Thursday he was satisfied with the sentence handed down to Howell.
“I believe it does serve justice,” Augsburger said. “Just because he can ask for parole after serving 18 years does not mean that he’ll get it. I think the life sentence is well-deserved.”
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