An East Toledo man convicted by a jury last week of sexually assaulting three girls — one of them repeatedly over a period of nearly four years — was sentenced Wednesday to at least 94 years in state prison by a Lucas County judge.
Antonio Ramirez, 39, of the 2100 block of Bakewell Street, was defiant before Judge Joe McNamara in Lucas County Common Pleas Court, maintaining his innocence and accusing the primary victim of making up everything.
Ramirez’s remarks followed a victim statement to the court by that girl, who said she has been ridden with fear, shame, and anxiety that made her suicidal at times and has hobbled her academics and work efforts.
“I hope he thinks about me while he rots in jail,” the girl, whose name The Blade is withholding because of the sexual crimes involved, told the court while requesting a maximum sentence. “I’m going to keep telling my story so no child ever thinks what he did was appropriate.”
Judge McNamara fulfilled the maximum request, sentencing Ramirez to consecutive terms of 25 years to life for two counts first-degree rape of a person under 13 years old, three 11-year terms for first-degree rape, and a combined 11 years for five counts of gross sexual imposition. Another gross sexual imposition count was dismissed.
The sentence includes a provision for an additional 5½ years should Ramirez run afoul of Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections rules.
Prosecutors said the assaults on the primary victim accounted for all of the counts except two of the gross sexual imposition charges. The behavior involving that girl began in 2017, when she was under 13, and continued through 2021, they said, and included penetration with fingers and a toe that supported the rape charges. The conduct with the other two girls, both teenagers at the time, also occurred in 2021, prosecutors said.
In his statement, Ramirez questioned how he could be convicted when there was no physical evidence. He refused to sign a form detailing his registration duties as a Tier 3 sexual offender, which would come into play if he ever were to be paroled.
“That is the devil in disguise,” he said, looking toward the girl who had just spoken before the court. “I assure you this little girl is lying.”
But Judge McNamara said that having observed the entire trial last week, he considered the witnesses to have been credible.
“You are the reason society needs prisons,” the judge said before describing Ramirez as “what every parent is afraid of” and pledging to “incapacitate you for as long as possible” before assuring the victims they had done nothing wrong.
“I hope you are never put in a position where you can harm another child,” Judge McNamara said after handing down the sentence.
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