Jury finds Boardman man not guilty on all counts in rape trial
YOUNGSTOWN — A jury found Robert Baxa, 55, of Boardman not guilty on all counts Thursday in a rape trial that began with jury selection Monday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
In opening statements to the jury, Marty Hume, assistant county prosecutor, said the girl’s allegations against Baxa “came to the attention of entities all about the same time.” She told a school official and her licensed professional counselor, and those conversations came to the attention of police and Mahoning County Children’s Services in March of 2023, Hume said.
The girl told a social worker specific details of the attacks, Hume said. DNA evidence was collected and analyzed during the investigation, he said.
An “intake disposition was reached by CSB” of sexual abuse of the girl by Baxa, Hume said. In May of 2024, Baxa was indicted on eight counts of rape, four counts of sexual battery and six counts of gross sexual imposition.
Baxa’s trial was overseen by visiting Judge W. Wyatt McKay, a retired common pleas court judge from Trumbull County.
Joseph Ohlin, one of Baxa’s attorneys, told jurors during opening statements in the trial, “There are people in this world that will make up just about anything … making up the most outrageous and malicious things.”
Ohlin said the case is “about a young girl with a multitude of different mental health issues … wanting out of her current situation and will say the most horrible things to get out of it.”
Ohlin said the evidence would show that the girl “did not grow up with an easy life.” He said, “We expect you to hear about her struggles with mental illness, depression, suicidal and homicidal thoughts, voices in her head, exaggerated stories, made-up stories, poor grades in school” and other issues.
He said it’s not true that the girl will provide “specifics” like time frames, like, “It happened when it was summer. It happened in the daytime or the nighttime.”