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Man indicted in 11 rapes involving pair

YOUNGSTOWN — City resident Dagoberto Gomez-Espinoza, 63, was indicted this week on 11 counts of rape, 10 counts of sexual battery and three counts of gross sexual imposition involving two young victims.

If convicted on the rape charges alone, he could get more than 100 years in prison. Prosecutors allege the rapes began in 1998 and continued until 2012.

In another case, the grand jury refused to indict Lynell Lockhart Jr., 25, of Youngstown, on felonious assault in a strange case involving an alleged arson on West Boston Avenue early Aug. 29.

Police were called to West Boston at 8:25 a.m. for an alleged arson and vehicle crash and found an unconscious man, 59, on the front porch of a house.

Near the man, police found a tire iron, sledgehammer and an abandoned Jeep Latitude that was crashed into the front of the home at 490 W. Boston Ave.

Police referred to the injured man as being the suspect in an intentional fire at 570 W. Boston Ave., and the victim of a felonious assault involving the Jeep.

A man who called 911 regarding the fire said someone “just lit his house on fire” and told call takers he “beat the suspect up, and he is laying in a yard a couple of blocks” away.

Police did not get to talk to the victim of the felonious assault because of his injuries, the police report states. The fire left two adults and four children without a place to stay, so the American Red Cross was notified to assist them, the report states.

Also indicted was Javier A. Hill, 22, on improperly discharging a firearm at or into a habitation or school safety zone with a three-year gun specification and five-year “drive-by shooting” gun specification, inciting to violence with a three-year gun specification, and improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle.

Hill was charged after police accused him of being involved in an early morning shooting Aug. 8 on the North Side in which Hill said he and his sister had been assaulted at the Valley View apartments on Saranac Avenue. Residents of a home on Saranac reported that their home had been hit by gunfire at about the same time.

Others indicted are:

∫ Dylan M. Wilkerson, 24 Mahoning County jail, rape.

∫ Willie L. Smith Jr., 41, Mahoning County jail, failure to register.

∫ Jarvis S. Sanders, 41, Gordon Avenue, Campbell, cocaine possession.

∫ Sammy F. Anderson Jr., 26, New Road, Austintown, being a felon in possession of a firearm, receiving stolen property and aggravated menacing.

∫ Joshua H. Spencer, 40, Mahoning County jail, two counts of trespass in a habitation, one count of aggravated drug possession and two counts of escape.

∫ Victoria T. Harrison, 19, Mahoning County jail, assault, obstructing official business, resisting arrest, two counts of domestic violence and one count of child endangering.

∫ Stephen L. Kness, 61, Woodworth Road, New Springfield, two counts of operating a motor vehicle under the influence and one count of driving under an OVI suspension.

∫ Nicholas F. Romeo, 23, Mahoning County jail, cocaine possession with a specification of forfeiture of money in a drug case and illegal use or possession of drug paraphernalia with a specification of forfeiture of money in a drug case.

∫ Lisa M. Rafidi, 47, Shields Road, Boardman, menacing by stalking and violating a protection order.

∫ Joshua McCranie, 29, Mahoning County jail, being a felon in possession of a firearm and carrying a concealed weapon.

∫ Shawn P. Douglas, 46, McClure Avenue, tampering with records and forgery.

∫ Anthony E. Gentry II, 32, East Indianola Avenue, failure to verify address.

erunyan@vindy.com

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