Utica man sentenced to 15 years for raping young girl

NEWARK — A Utica man was sentenced to 15 years in prison after he admitted to raping a girl.

Eli Cummons, 30, also will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life after pleading guilty Wednesday to rape and related charges.

Cummons was arrested in August after a 9-year-old girl told investigators that he had forced her to touch his genitals and placed Cummons his fingers into hers, according to documents. The incidents occurred in July, once at his home and once during a softball tournament. The victim also said that Cummons showed her pornography.

Cummons was not an official coach but volunteered in the league.

He offered a short apology before Licking County Common Pleas Judge Thomas Marcelain announced the sentence. The judge noted that Cummons had an earlier sexrelated conviction, for indecent exposure, that he didn’t complete required counseling afterward and that he was a risk to re-offend.

A separate victim named in court filings did not cooperate with prosecutors and was not named during Wednesday’s court proceedings.

Marcelain sentenced Cummons to 11 years on two rape counts, four years on two gross sexual imposition counts and one year on a single count of disseminating harmful material.

He also was categorized as a Tier 3 sex offender and will have to register his whereabouts every 90 days for the rest of his life.