WARREN - A roofer who lived in McDonald and then Warren when he raped three of the four girls he victimized was sentenced Tuesday to life behind bars with a chance for parole after 18 years.
Richard Calderwood, 32, said nothing after taking a plea bargain deal and before the sentence was handed down by Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Andrew Logan.
Logan called it one of the worst types of crime, telling Calderwood, ''Do your time and think about what you did to these children and their families.''
Calderwood was arrested in March at a relative's home in Toronto, Ohio, and served with a 15-count secret indictment that included seven counts of rape, four counts of compelling prostitution, two counts of gross sexual imposition, and one count each of pandering obscenity involving a minor and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles.
The sexual imposition and disseminating charges were dismissed in exchange for the plea, but assistant county prosecutor Gabe Wildman pointed out that since the victim was younger than 10 years old in two of the rape counts, the parole eligibility on the life sentences was enhanced to 15 years rather than 10 years.
Logan ran the sentences on the prostitution charges consecutively for the total of 18 years that must be served before any chance of parole.
''Our office will continue to target offenders like this. They have to be taken off the street,'' said Wildman, adding that he would oppose any chance for parole for the defendant even after 18 years.
And if Calderwood is ever paroled on the charges, he will be considered a Tier III sex offender who must register his whereabouts quarterly with authorities for the rest of his life.
Wildman said Warren Detective Michael Currington and McDonald police Chief Lou Ronghi and Lt. Bill Woodley worked the case together with Children Services investigators. Their investigation revealed that Calderwood forced or encouraged two sisters to have sex with each other, sometimes paying them $25 or offering them candy. He also used the video capability on his cellphone to record some of the sex acts.
Calderwood later moved to Warren when the family did, where police said more sexual attacks occurred, some of them involving two friends of the oldest sister. The victims are between the ages of 9 and 13.
Indictments against Calderwood state that all the crimes took place from late 2008 through June 2011 in Warren and McDonald.