Kamer
A Toledo who had a life sentenced for rape overturned has been resentenced to a minimum of eight years in prison.
Gregory Kamer Jr. 38, appeared Thursday in the courtroom of Wood County Common Pleas Judge Joel Kuhlman.
The hearing was to accept Kamer’s change of plea to guilty for one count of rape.
He had been indicted in November 1919 for eight counts of rape, two counts of gross sexual imposition, and two counts of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles
He was found guilty of four counts of rape and one count gross sexual imposition after a four-day jury trial in November 2020.
Former Wood County Common Pleas Judge Alan Mayberry imposed life sentences without parole for each rape charge and 30 months for the GSI charge.
Kamer appealed, and the Sixth District Court of Appeals reversed the sentence after determining certain hearsay evidence was improperly admitted and likely affected the verdict, specifically the child’s incriminating statements — given through testimony of the police detective and the child abuse investigator — that was not part of the child’s testimony.
Kamer on Thursday pleaded guilty to one rape that occurred between March 22 and July 29, 2019, when the victim was 5 years old.
Kuhlman followed a joint recommendation, with the agreement of the victim’s family, and imposed a minimum prison sentence of eight years with a maximum of 12 years. Kamer will be given credit for time served.
Upon his release, he will have to register as a Tier III sex offender, which will require him to register every 90 days for life.
Wood County Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Pamela Gross said the plea offer was to prevent further trauma to the child victim with another trial.
“The result of this case is far less than we wanted and far less than what he deserves,” said Wood County Prosecutor Paul Dobson in a prepared statement. “Unfortunately, between the decision the court of appeals … and other evidentiary problems their decision created, we were forced to seek a different resolution.”
He said he hoped the prison sentence and Kamer’s obligation to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life will prevent this from happening again.
Kamer will be held in the Wood County Jail until he is returned to prison.
