YOUNGSTOWN — A man charged with rape failed to fire his court-appointed lawyer Tuesday.

Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony Donofrio rejected a motion by Damaris T. Grant to terminate defense attorney Mark Lavelle. In the same hearing, Grant rejected a plea agreement offer from the Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office that would see him serve 25 to 30 years in prison. If convicted, Grant faces approximately 80 years.

Grant, 43, was indicted in June 2024 on eight counts of rape, four counts of sexual battery, three counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor or impaired person and five counts of child endangering. Prosecutors allege that he sexually assaulted a young girl and took inappropriate pictures of her.

On Tuesday, Lavelle said his client declined the plea offer, but also did not wish to go to trial with Lavelle representing him.

Grant complained that Lavelle has never sat down with him to discuss the evidence against him. He also claimed that in the fall, Lavelle failed to produce what could be exculpatory or at least helpful evidence the prosecutor’s office allegedly possesses. That evidence seems to focus on records from Mahoning County Children’s Services.

Grant further complained that Lavelle has failed to compel the alleged victim to appear for pretrial hearings, something Donofrio informed him is highly uncommon in pretrial proceedings.

Donofrio noted that Lavelle is Grant’s second court-appointed attorney after he failed to get along with the first. The judge noted Lavelle’s esteemed record as a defense attorney and effectively stated that Grant’s lack of understanding of the legal process does not mean Lavelle has failed to meet his obligations.

Grant has been in the Mahoning County jail since April 17 on a charge of pandering obscenity involving a minor and drug possession after being arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service, according to Mahoning County jail records.

A pandering charge was filed in Youngstown Municipal Court against Grant on March 29, 2024, by the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office for an incident that allegedly occurred the day before, according to Youngstown Municipal Court records.

That charge was bound over to a Mahoning County grand jury in April of that year.

Grant was charged separately by Youngstown police April 18 with felony drug possession and felony possession of a fentanyl-related compound. Those charges also were bound over to a grand jury in April 2024.