Jeremy Sims gives his statement before being sentenced Thursday for rape and kidnapping.
A Toledo man found guilty of raping a child he kidnapped will spend at least three decades in prison.
A jury in August found Jeremy Sims guilty of rape, kidnapping, prostitution of a minor and four additional charges.
Sims, 44, was transported from jail Thursday to the courtroom of Wood County Common Pleas Judge Joel Kuhlman.
Kuhlman imposed a sentence of 30 years to life in prison.
Sims, of Toledo, was indicted in June 2023 for two counts of rape, each with repeat violent offender and sexually violent predator specifications; kidnapping within a school safety zone and with both sexual motivation and sexually violent predator specifications; importuning; pandering obscenity involving a minor or impaired person; compelling prostitution; and gross sexual imposition.
The jury found him guilty on all charges, including that the kidnapping was done with sexual motivation.
At the start of the trial, the state offered a sentence of 20-25 years if Sims pleaded guilty to the two rape charges and kidnapping. All other charges and specifications would have been dismissed.
Sims declined.
The court on Thursday heard testimony from Perrysburg Police Department Det. Shannon Kociancic regarding Sims’ history as a violent offender and repeat sexual predator.
Kociancic said Sims has been convicted of felony robbery in Lucas County and has been named 14 times as a perpetrator of sexual abuse in Ohio.
The kidnapping occurred May 16, 2023. The 12-year-old was removed from the Perrysburg High School parking lot in the middle of the night.
According to court documents, Sims raped the child on May 26, 2023.
Sims committed importuning by soliciting the 12-year-old to engage in a sexual activity and pandered obscenity on June 1, 2023, by creating or producing an obscene performance that had a minor as one of its participants.
Sims either paid or agreed to pay the 12-year-old to engage in sexual activity.
Sims was already in jail at the time of this indictment after being indicted earlier in June 2023 for disseminating matters harmful to juveniles. That case was dismissed Thursday.
The victim’s mother said she was “devasted” upon learning what Sims did to her son while she was sleeping at home.
“I never imagined an adult would take advantage of my son and take his innocence. …” she said.
As her son understands the severity of what happened, “his inner light dims,” she said.
Sims took his innocence and installed a level of fear we will deal with for a lifetime, she said
Wood County Assistant Prosecutor Charles McDonald said what Sims did shows the ripple effect of violent crime.
A sentence needs to protect the public from future crimes of a man who doesn’t discriminate against one gender or the other and who preys on children, he said.
“Every child in Wood County is at risk if he in not in custody,” McDonald said.
While this was not Sims’ first minor victim, “we are asking the court that he is the last,” he said.
Defense attorney Merle Dech Jr. asked for the counts to be served concurrently for a minimum sentence of life with eligibility for parole after 25 years, when Sims is 67 years old.
Such a sentence would adequately protect the public and adequately punish his client, he said.
Sims, when allowed to speak, accused the prosecution of twisting the facts in saying there were 14 more victims out there when he didn’t have 14 additional charges against him. He also accused prosecutors of seeking a guilty verdict instead of the truth.
“They have done everything possible to make me look like a monster, and I am not,” he said.
The 12-year-old identified himself as an adult when he joined the dating app Grindr, Sims said, which goes against the app’s policy.
“I didn’t prey on this kid. I didn’t know he was 12,” he said.
Kuhlman pointed out that at trial, even a year after the offense, the victim looked young enough not to be mistaken as an adult.
The judge added that the victim said he age when he saw Sims.
Sims said the court needs to pursue charges against the victim who lied on the stand and said we did things we didn’t do.
Kuhlman said it was not the court’s job to enforce the rules of Grindr.
“We’re here to follow the laws of the Constitution and the laws of the state of Ohio,” he said.
Kuhlman impose the mandatory sentence of 30 years, with credit for time served, and added Sims could stay in custody for life.
Sims is “likely to engage in one or more sexual oriented offenses in the future,” Kuhlman said.
He said the defendant chronically commits offenses with sexual motivation and has a long criminal history of victimizing individuals.
If released from prison, Sims will have to register as a Tier III sex offender, which will require registration every 90 days for life.
