WARREN — A Hubbard man Thursday appealed a life prison sentence, where he was convicted on 10 out of 14 felony counts dealing with a six-year sexual assault of a relative.

The appeal was filed on behalf of Kenneth Nitso on April 13 by his defense attorney at the time of trial, Morgan R. Caruso.

On the afternoon of March 2, the jury of seven men and five women brought back a mixed bag of verdicts after deliberating for a little more than three hours.

Nitso was found guilty of eight counts of gross sexual imposition, one count of rape with factual findings and one count of compelling prostitution. The panel, however, found him not guilty of four rape counts.

The convictions ended a three-day jury trial.

At sentencing, Trumbull County Court of Common Pleas Judge Andrew D. Logan sentenced him to 25 years to life for the rape conviction consecutive to the five concurrent years he gave for the gross sexual imposition convictions.

An indictment alleges that Nitso from May 2016 through May 2021 committed sexual acts against the girl, who is now 13.

Cuyahoga County-based defense attorney Edward Heindel argued during the appeals hearing that no physical evidence, outside of testimony from the victim, supported the conviction on sexual assault related charges — emphasizing this to be “prejudice” against his client.

Heindel called into question a polygraph test taken by Nitso that he deemed “not reliable” and raised the point that it could’ve had an effect on the jury.

The general rule, Heindel said, was that the test should not be admitted unless stipulated by both sides.

The effectiveness of counsel also was questioned by Heindel, stating that the attorney that represented Nitso was to do “everything to either soften or have them excluded.” In his eyes, that meant ensuring that the test evidence was suppressed during trial.

The state’s Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Sanders scoffed at the notion that the jury blindly accepted the polygraph test and what they were told by the victim’s testimony.

Had that been the case, Sanders said the jury wouldn’t have acquitted Nitso on four counts of rape.

“Clearly, they took their duty to weigh the evidence and consider what they found to be credible or not credible and considered all the evidence, including polygraph,” Sanders said.

The assistant prosecutor also noted that Nitso agreed to the polygraph test being admissible as evidence.

Sanders said the victims’ testimony alone supported the offenses and noted the detailed testimony of her recollection of the sexual abuse that occurred. He said he believes those details are what led to the jury convicting Nitso of rape.

During testimony, jurors heard that the girl, accompanied by a “faculty dog” on the stand, told counselors that sexual abuse “happened about a million times. It happened almost every day.”

After one incident, the victim told investigators that Nitso offered her $40 to keep the abuse quiet. After another incident, the victim said the defendant bought her a king-sized Kit Kat candy bar at a gas station.

This allegation fell in line with the charge of compelling prostitution involving a minor. On the stand, the victim said that was the only time Nitso exchanged money or other incentives for sexual favors.

“I don’t know the words to describe it,” the victim said when asked by the prosecution to describe how she felt about the abuse. She told the courtroom on several occasions that Nitso said, “You can’t tell anyone about this.”

A decision on the appeal will be determined at a later time.

cmcbride@tribtoday.com