Man sentenced to 11 years for raping girlfriend’s young niece and infecting her with STD

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - The man convicted of sexually assaulting a young girl was sentenced Thursday morning on four counts of first-degree felonious rape.

The Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas judge sentenced 28-year-old Ricardo Correa to 11 years on all four charges to be served concurrently.

Correa was arrested in April 2018, court records show. He was initially indicted on eight charges, including four additional counts of kidnapping.

According to investigators, Correa repeatedly raped his girlfriend’s niece, who was 8 and 9 years old at the time of the assaults, between July 2017 and April 2018.

Attorneys said the young victim lived with her aunt after her mother died in a car accident. Correa was looked at by the victim as a father figure.

The victim did not tell anybody she was being abused until her sister and cousin told school counselors and police.

The young girl was taken to an area hospital after telling detectives about the sexual assaults. There, she was diagnosed with the sexually transmitted disease trichomonas.

“I am remorseful and I want to apologize for everyone and particularly the alleged victim,” Correa stated in court.

The prosecution recommended a sentence of up to 44 years in prison.

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