21-year-old man gets life sentence for raping 2-year-old girl

WARREN — Mark D. Hamilton, 21, formerly of Rocky Mountain N.C., and North River Road, Warren Township, received a life sentence with parole eligibility after 10 years for raping the 2-year-old daughter of a woman he was dating.

Hamilton appeared in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court and pleaded guilty today to a single count of rape and was sentenced by Judge Andrew Logan.

Rape of child under 13 carries the life imprisonment penalty.

Diane Barber, an assistant county prosecutor, said the rape occurred May 2, 2007, in the 100 block of North River Road in Warren Township, where the girl was under the supervision of Hamilton’s mother and stepfather.

Hamilton also was living at the home.

Hamilton also was determined to be a sexual offender, and he will have to register for life with the sheriff’s department where he is living once he is released from prison.

Hamilton took a lie-detector test recently and failed it, then confessed to the crime, Barber said.