Jury to decide fate of Elyria man facing child rape and molestation charges

ELYRIA — Nine women and three men have been asked to decide whether an Elyria man is guilty of rape and other felony charges for alleged crimes against two preteen victims dating back to 2018. Roger Mincey, 40, is accused of raping and molesting a girl who is related to his former girlfriend, allegedly offering the woman money to sexually abuse the child, and taking video or photos of other sexual assaults involving his former girlfriend and a second child, a boy. He pleaded not guilty. Jurors heard five days worth of testimony in Lorain County Common Pleas Court this week before getting the case late Friday afternoon. Judge Donna Freeman presided over the trial, and told jurors to return to court Monday to start deliberating. The Lorain County Prosecutor's Office and Elyria Police Department said text messages Mincey sent to the former girlfriend, Ashley Lenhart, and the testimony of two alleged victims, one boy and one girl, proved that Mincey and Lenhart sexually abused children. Defense attorney Michael Stepanik told jurors on Friday that the whole case was based on lies, made up as part of a custody dispute Mincey had with a different woman and pressed by prosecutors, police, Children Services workers and healthcare workers eager to railroad his client to conviction. The Chronicle-Telegram does not name alleged victims of sexual assault. Mincey has pleaded not guilty to 13 felonies including rape, gross sexual imposition, pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor, attempted pandering obscenity involving a minor, compelling prostitution and endangering children, and a misdemeanor charge of endangering children. Mincey and Lenhart allegedly raped children in each others' families and talked about it in text messages. When the children finally told an adult about the alleged abuse, Lorain County Children Services and Elyria police got involved. An investigation found the children had suffered neglect and that sexual abused was "indicated," Children Services supervisor Nicole Huerner testified. In her closing argument Friday, Assistant Prosecutor Tina Kishman admitted there weren't a lot of eyewitnesses to support her case, but encouraged jurors to look at Mincey and Lenhart's text messages and medical records taken by a sexual assault nurse examiner. That evidence backs up the allegations that Mincey and Lenhart raped and molested the victims, and goes to show that Mincey acted on his "sexual desires involving a male victim" and young girls. Stepanik told the jury there is no evidence his client did anything wrong five to seven years ago when the allegations first were reported. "Roger Mincey is innocent of every charge brought against him," Stepanik said. All the allegations were made by a woman who hates Mincey, who allegedly tried to make sure he would never see his children again and who got him fired from his job and evicted from his home. That woman and other witnesses lied about evidence that does not exist, including alleged videos and photos police never could find, Stepanik said in his closing argument. The victims couldn't accurately describe alleged sex acts to police investigators, and Mincey voluntarily let detectives access his cellphone, his attorney said. Mincey sniffled and wiped away tears during his attorney's closing argument. Stepanik encouraged jurors to send the government a message: "'Stop trying to cheat my client out of his freedom,' ... because none of these things (the victims) described ever happened." In her rebuttal to Stepanik's closing, Kishman dismissed the idea of a "grand conspiracy" by the government to convict Mincey. The victims weren't "perfect" in their recall and memories of the alleged abuse, she said, but their testimony supported the digital evidence. Kishman also asked jurors to remember that Mincey was caught in a lie when he said testified he wasn't interested in rape fantasies involving unconscious women, something his text messages contradicted. The defense "wants to distract you from the text messages," Kishman said. Lenhart, 35, testified for the prosecution as part of a plea agreement. She pleaded guilty to sexual battery, gross sexual imposition and complicity to gross sexual imposition, all felonies, and a misdemeanor charge of endangering children. Rape, complicity and felony child endangering charges were dismissed. Lenhart will be sentenced by Freeman on Dec. 19, and labeled a Tier III sex offender requiring lifetime registration. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.