By Joe Gorman

jgorman@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

A judge sentencing a man to consecutive life terms after he was convicted on 20 counts of rape said he would not fail in his job as the defendant failed in his.

Judge Lou D’Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court told Tshombe Miller, 34, who was convicted by a jury in June on 10 counts of rape with a sentence of life in prison and 10 first-degree felony counts of rape for the rape of two of his daughters, that his job is to protect not just the victims in Miller’s case but all of society.

As a father, Miller was supposed to protect his own children and he fell way short in that area, Judge D’Apolito said Wednesday.

“The first duty of a father of two daughters is to protect them against the evil in this world,” Judge D’Apolito said. “Tragically for them, you are the evil.”

Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer McLaughlin said the abuse began when the girls were 10 and 12, respectively, and continued for several years until Miller was arrested in 2016 after an investigation by two separate county agencies.

McLaughlin said Miller deserved a life sentence because of the ongoing nature of his crimes and the fact he took advantage of his position as the father of the victims to repeatedly abuse them.

Miller’s attorney, John B. Juhasz, asked for a sentence with a chance for his client to get parole. Juhasz said if the judge followed McLaughlin’s recommendation, Miller would not be eligible for parole until he was 74.

Juhasz said if the parole board determined he was still a danger to society, he could be kept in prison if he was given a lighter sentence.

Miller declined not to speak because he is appealing his convictions and did not want to say anything that could be used against him in the appeal.