YOUNGSTOWN — After being convicted on all 67 sex charges at his trial last week, Dustin Ruiter, 51, was sentenced to 68 years in prison Wednesday, restoring the sentence Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony D’Apolito gave Ruiter in January of 2022 after Ruiter was convicted the first time on most of the same charges.

Ruiter had to be tried again this year because the 7th District Court of Appeals overturned all 33 rape convictions, all 33 sexual battery convictions and one attempted rape conviction in 2023. The appeals court affirmed Ruiter’s six gross sexual imposition convictions, which resulted in a nine-year prison sentence.

Ruiter did not show any reaction while remarks from the victims brought tears to many others in the courtroom.

The appeals panel sent the case back to Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony D’Apolito for him to try Ruiter again, saying the appeals court disagreed with D’Apolito’s decision to deny Ruiter the assistance of a DNA expert at his first trial.

The appeals decision and seeing the victims having to testify a second time caused D’Apolito to apologize to the victims.

“There was a decision I made about the evidence in the first trial,” he said. “You don’t like doing cases again by any stretch. But I am sorry you had to go through that, so I apologize.”

He credited the victim who came forward first with stopping the abuse from continuing. “Your bravery was something I was struck by, just as much if not more the second time,” D’Apolito said.

One of the victims said the abuse she suffered affected her in ways one might not imagine.

“When I found out I was pregnant, I felt all of the emotions — excited, scared, you name it. Everyone asked me what I wanted. A boy was my answer every single time. I wanted a boy because if I had a girl the reality of (what happened to her) would come crashing down. I still remember the day I learned I was having a girl.”

She said, “That was scary for me having to raise a girl in the world I (experienced).” She said her daughter is “the light of my life. I don’t let her go to daycare because I am afraid of what a stranger might do to her. In fact, I almost always think there is something wrong with her, she’s not happy. If her dad were not there 24/7 to reassure me, I would be in panic 24/7.”

Another victim said that because she was sexually abused by Dustin Ruiter, “I have struggled with psychological and physical impacts, such as fear, anxiety, stress, nightmares, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression. This affected my daily life as I struggled with friendships, get anxious around male figures.” She has physical symptoms caused by severe trauma, she said.

“I struggle with telling people how I really feel, fear of backlash. I am also afraid of people touching me that I do not know,” she said. “My body was used for Dustin’s self-satisfaction.” She added, “Do you remember when you said that you could beat the system? I guess you couldn’t beat the system.”

When Ruiter and his attorney, Jim Wise, were asked if they had any remarks before sentencing, Ruiter said no, and Wise said “Not at this time.”

Ruiter gets credit for 2,288 days served locked up during the years since he was first arrested in the case. Ruiter would be over 120 years old by the time he became eligible for parole.

In opening statements in Ruiter’s retrial last week, Assistant Prosecutor Kristie Weibling said Ruiter began to sexually abuse one girl in 2018 and then a second girl after that. They both disclosed the assaults to a trusted adult in June of 2019.

“This is why we are here — because of the disgusting and heinous crimes that the defendant committed,” Weibling said.