David Cowan III (right) was found guilty of raping a child by a jury Thursday afternoon.
Jessica Orozco | The Lima News
LIMA — A jury on Thursday found a Lima man guilty of sexually abusing his girlfriend’s 14-year-old foster daughter, but was cleared of some related charges.
David Cowan III, was found guilty of two counts of rape, one count of unlawful sexual misconduct with a minor and one count of gross sexual imposition for forcing himself on the victim on Dec. 12, 2021.
The Lima News does not identify victims of sexual assault. Cowan’s girlfriend will remain anonymous to protect the identity of the minor in this case.
Cowan was acquitted of the other charges, which alleged two other incidents in which he entered the girl’s bedroom while she was sleeping and assaulted or attempted to assault her. The girl testified on Tuesday that Cowan raped her sometime in October 2021, and tried to force her to perform fellatio on him later that month, but gave up when she resisted.
The victim and her then-foster mother both testified Tuesday that Cowan was in the girl’s room in the early morning hours of Dec. 12, 2021.
The minor, now 15, said she woke up early that morning to Cowan over top of her, raping her, before getting up and going to the closet to pull his pants up as her foster mother came in the room. Her foster mother said that when she entered the room, she saw Cowan adjusting his pants and the minor lying in bed with her pajama pants and underwear down.
Erika Jimenez, an Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation forensic scientist, testified on Wednesday that she analyzed samples taken from the alleged victim’s face, vagina and anus, finding male DNA likely to be Cowan’s or a male in his bloodline.
Cowan denied any sexual contact with the minor in his testimony on Wednesday.
The man’s defense attorney, Kenneth Rexford, said during Thursday morning closing arguments that because the nurse who examined the victim at the hospital did not find evidence of injury or prior trauma, which he said was contrary to her allegations. He said because the girl rated the pain as a “10 out of 10” and her hymen was intact, she could not be telling the truth.
Assistant Allen County Prosecutor Joseph Everhart said with all bodies being individual, the hymen is not a reliable indicator of sexual intercourse. Kristin Pohlman, the nurse who examined the minor, testified Wednesday that the hymen does not always break during sex.
Everhart said pain is individual, and vaginal penetration for an inexperienced girl may cause severe pain without a broken hymen.
Rexford also argued during closing arguments that because the DNA found in the girl’s anal and vaginal samples was that of a male related to Cowan, there is reasonable doubt that the man did not rape her. He said Cowan’s son, who was 3-weeks-old at the time, was leaving his DNA throughout the home by drooling, urinating and by other methods that could have transferred to the victim’s hands before she touched herself.
Everhart said an infant that young would not leave his DNA all over the place, and anyone who touched his urine or other bodily fluids would wash their hands, destroying the DNA.
Jimenez testified Wednesday that it is difficult to obtain DNA from urine.
The jury agreed with the prosecutor.
Cowan’s bond was revoked, and Allen County Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey Reed ordered a pre-sentencing investigation to be completed before sentencing April 13 at 1 p.m. Cowan faces mandatory prison time and will be required to register as a sex offender starting at the time of sentencing.
