Man faces 90 years in rape during home invasion
An East Side man could be sent to prison for more than 90 years after a Franklin County jury on Monday convicted him of participating in a home- invasion robbery in which two of his accomplices admitted to raping a woman.
Chavez D. Caslin, 23, formerly of Rivercreek Bay Way, was found guilty of multiple counts of kidnapping, aggravated robbery and rape and single counts of aggravated burglary, gross sexual imposition and tampering with evidence. The jury, which deliberated for less than three hours, attached a gun specification to each count.
Among the witnesses in the case was the rape victim, who testified last week with her emotionalsupport dog by her side.
Common Pleas Judge Laurel Beatty Blunt could impose up to 11 years on each of eight first- degree felonies and a minimum of six years for the gun specifications when she sentences Caslin on July 26.
He is the last of four men to be convicted in the case. Testimony showed that he and the others confronted the woman as she was warming up her car early on the morning of April 30, 2015, outside the Groveport- area townhome that she shared with her boyfriend.
She was forced at gunpoint inside the home, where her boyfriend was assaulted, she was raped and both were robbed.
Two of Caslin’s accomplices testified against him. Deandre D. Wallace, 21, and Elijah J. Hand, 18, said Caslin was part of the group and was armed with a handgun.
Both received plea deals from prosecutors in exchange for their testimony.
Although there was no evidence or testimony that Caslin participated in the rape, all of the men were equally responsible under the law for everything that happened to the woman and her boyfriend, Assistant Prosecutor James Lowe told the jury in his closing argument.
Defense attorney Toure McCord argued that Wallace and Hand were “dishonest men who lied ( to the jury) to protect their deals.”
Wallace pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary and rape with gun specifications as part of an agreement that includes a recommended sentence of 20 years.
Hand pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery, as well as involuntary manslaughter in an unrelated case, along with gun specifications, with a recommended sentence of 13 years.
The fourth defendant, Lawson P. Harris III, 18, was involved in a string of robberies, including one in which he fatally shot a man and another in which he shot and wounded a man.
He was sentenced in December to life in prison with no chance of parole for 33 years after pleading guilty to aggravated murder, attempted murder, aggravated robbery and rape, all with gun specifications.
Harris and Hand were 16 at the time of the crimes, but a Juvenile Court judge transferred their cases to adult court.