Firefighter guilty of abducting girl
DELAWARE — A year after his first trial for rape ended in a hung jury, a veteran Columbus firefighter pleaded guilty Monday to a single, lower-level felony charge of the abduction of a then-5-year-old relative.
Timothy Durbin agreed to a single count of abduction, a third-degree felony, in exchange for prosecutors dropping charges of rape, gross sexual imposition and kidnapping. The Alford plea does not require him to admit criminal misconduct, but concedes prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him.
A jury deliberated for eight hours in August 2016, before telling Delaware County Common Pleas Judge Everett H. Krueger that it was deadlocked. Two jurors reportedly could not agree to guilty verdicts.
Durbin was charged with three counts of rape and single counts of attempted rape, gross sexual imposition and kidnapping. He was accused of sexually assaulting the girl between July 1, 2003 and July 31, 2004, after her father hired him to build an addition to their Westerville home.
Durbin, 53, of the Northwest Side, has been a Columbus firefighter for more than 20 years. He is assigned to the Fire Alarm Office, doing research and gathering data, according to the fire division. His annual salary is $77,000.
Prosecutors said they had to balance the wishes of the victim’s family with pursuing justice.
“(Durbin) wanted to avoid the risk of conviction,” said Kyle Rohrer, first assistant Delaware County prosecutor.
Rohrer said the victim and her family, several of whom testified last year, “didn’t want to have to re-live this nightmare over again.”
Durbin declined to comment after Monday’s hearing before retired Montgomery County Appeals Court Judge James A. Brogan.
His attorney, Greg Meyers, said, “It’s extremely foreboding for a man accused of a crime that carries the penalty of life in prison. The price you pay if you risk putting your fate in the hands of jurors could be that you die in prison. It’s an extraordinarily high-stakes risk.”
Durbin’s sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 14. He faces up to three years in prison a fine of up to $10,000.
The case was complicated because the victim today is an adult. While expert witnesses were prepared to testify that her diagnosis for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder were directly related to sexual assaults, others maintain that her problems were unrelated and possibly connected to false memories planted during years of therapy.