Staff photo / Ed Runyan Christopher Thompson, 46, of Austintown, was sentenced to five years of probation Monday on two felony offenses and one misdemeanor for offenses against a woman he knows. At right is his attorney, Gary Van Brocklin.

YOUNGSTOWN — Christopher M. Thompson, 46, of Austintown, was sentenced to five years probation Monday after pleading guilty to felony strangulation and sexual extortion and misdemeanor domestic violence and violating a protection order for offenses against a woman he knows.

Assistant Mahoning County Prosecutor Caitlyn Andrews said the offenses began May 16, when Thompson assaulted the woman after “harassing her for sex, but she refused.”

He retrieved a floor jack and brought it back into the home in Austintown where it happened. He threatened to hit her with this object if she did not comply, Andrews said. “She was able to grab her phone and purse. And when she tried to leave, he came up behind her with the object and put it against her throat, making it hard for her to breathe.”

When she tried to leave again, “he put his hands around her throat this time and choked her,” Andrews said. She cried out for help, and a neighbor called 911. She ran away down the street. Later, she decided not to pursue criminal charges against him but wanted him to leave her alone, Andrews said.

“But later that day she began receiving harassing messages” from Thompson. He threatened to post an intimate video of her on social media if she did not call him back.

She ignored him and then learned that a video of her was on Facebook. Numerous family members contacted her to say that they had seen the video.

“She never gave him any sort of permission to be disseminating a video like that, and she certainly did not give him permission to be posting that on the internet,” Andrews said.

She got a protection order against him, but he still sent her “multiple letters from the jail asking her to drop charges and telling her that he loves her,” Andrews said.

She asked Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony Donofrio to sentence Thompson to 18 months in prison on the fourth degree and third degree felonies and two misdemeanors, saying it is a “series of criminal behaviors.” Thompson’s indictment lists May 16 for the felonies and domestic violence but July 5 to July 10 for the violation of a protection order.

“This is clearly an extremely angry and volatile man,” Andrews said. She called his actions “psychological abuse and manipulation.”

She noted that once a video like that is posted on the internet, “it is out there for the world to see. She has no control over who sees that.”

The victim wrote a statement and asked that prosecutors read it. The letter stated that the woman is unable to afford all of the counseling recommended for her to address the trauma she experienced and she gets very little sleep at night because of nightmares.

Defense attorney Gary Van Brocklin told Donofrio that Thompson was laid off from a job he had for about 20 years prior to the incident in May. The reason for the layoff was neurological problems and diabetes. “He went into a deep depression,” Van Brocklin said.

Van Brocklin said Thompson’s nickname in jail is “‘Cripple’ because he has fallen many times in the jail. And has had some very narrow escapes relative to his diabetes.” He said Thompson would “not survive” in prison for more than a month. He asked Donofrio to put Thompson on probation and “fashion a program that will both punish the offender … and to help the offender.”

Donofrio noted that Thompson was a “law abiding citizen” for a long time, but “these offenses you committed are horrible, terrible offenses. You deserve to be punished for them, of course.” Donofrio noted that Thompson had served 200 days in the county jail awaiting trial.

“The thing that is troubling to me is your attempt to contact the victim in this matter,” the judge said, noting that, “At this point, she doesn’t want anything to do with you.” He asked Thompson if he understood that, and Thompson said he did.

Donofrio said that it also bothers him that, “Even during this hearing, the fact that you kept looking back to see her.” Donofrio tried to make Thompson understand that he cannot contact her in any way. He ordered that Thompson’s brother turn in the firearm Thompson owns for destruction, which he is not allowed to possess anyway because of his new felony conviction.

Donofrio said it is very “difficult to balance this case” in terms of Thompson’s medical conditions, lack of previous criminal record and a presentence report that says his likelihood of him reoffending is low with the “nature of these offenses.”

He ordered Thompson to get an assessment at the Community Corrections Association of Youngstown for substance use, an anger management program and other requirements the assessment reveals. A medical doctor at CCA will assess Thompson for his medical problems.

Donofrio warned Thompson that if he tries to contact the victim, he will “not have any hesitation” to send him to prison for up to 4 1/2 years. Thompson also has to abide by a protection order that involves the victim and others.

He said Thompson was “most likely” going to be “in house at the Community Corrections Association for the next six months.”