Clermont County court sentences man convicted of child rape

BATAVIA, Ohio (WXIX) - A Clermont County court sentenced a man on Wednesday after he was found guilty of child rape.

Jose Barahona-Lara, 31, was convicted in July of seven counts of rape against a child under the age of 13 with an added specification of force and three counts of gross sexual imposition against a child under the age of 13, according to the Clermont County Prosecutor’s Office.

Barahona-Lara won’t be eligible for parole for 75 years, they explained.

“Today, a young girl’s abuser received essentially a life sentence,” Clermont County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Tekulve said in a statement. “She and other children are in a safer place now that he will spend his life behind bars.

Tekulve said prosecutors had learned Barahona-Lara was planning to leave the country prior to his trial.

Officers with the Union Township Police Department arrested him at his home before his trial and found a plane ticket to El Salvador hidden under his mattress.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.

Copyright 2023 WXIX. All rights reserved.