YOUNGSTOWN — A Youngstown man faces life in prison after a jury convicted him of rape Thursday.

Jurors in the courtroom of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony D’Apolito found Robert J, Tullio, 55, of Youngstown, guilty on three counts of rape and 10 counts of gross sexual imposition, stemming from allegations brought by three different victims.

The case came to the attention of authorities in 2022, when a 15-year-old girl told her mother that Tullio had been sexually abusing her since she was 11.

She testified Wednesday that he would give her back rubs that turned into sexual molestation. Tullio faced three counts of rape and five counts of gross sexual imposition for that victim’s claims. However, jurors acquitted him on those rape charges, finding him guilty only on the imposition counts.

After Tullio’s arrest on those charges, two sisters called each other and divulged to one another that they too had been sexually abused by Tullio in the 1990s. They both informed prosecutors in an effort to aid the girl’s case. Their efforts led to three additional counts of rape and five more counts of gross sexual imposition against Tullio, which he was convicted of.

The two rape conviction also carried specifications that Tullio committed the offense by means of force or threat of force, and that both victims were younger than 10 years of age at the time of the offenses. Those specifications likely will add to Tullio’s sentence.

Mahoning County Assistant Prosecutor Caitlyn Andrews told the victims after the verdict that at least one of their rape claims against Tullio will carry a potential life sentence. She said she expects him to serve a minimum of 15 years to life and intends to seek life without the possibility of parole if D’Apolito will allow it. Andrews said it’s possible that sentences for the gross sexual imposition convictions could be stacked to run consecutively. She said Tullio also still faces 10 counts of pandering obscenity (child pornography), which could impact his sentencing as well.

Andrews said that while she is disappointed that the youngest victim’s three rape claims were not validated by the verdict, all three victims still received some degree of justice.

“Given that each of these victims walks away feeling like they were heard and that they got some justice, that’s what we’re after,” she said. “I’m just glad we could get guilty verdicts here and they walked out feeling heard.”