Rapist Denied Parole
By Christopher Bobby
Originally published in the Tribune Chronicle, August 13, 2002
COLUMBUS — Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins said the ''truth was on his side,'' and family members of a rape victim said their prayers were answered Monday after a six-member state parole board ordered convicted rapist David Lockney to serve at least 10 more years in prison. Parole Board Chairman Raymond E. Capots said the fact that 23-year-old Jennifer Lockney showed up in person to tell about how her father repeatedly raped her 15 years ago made the difference, along with the personal appearance by Watkins.
The board's decision means Lockney will not see a parole board again until January 2012 in anticipation of a release date later that year.
In addition, Miriam Fife, crime victim advocate for the prosecutor's office, turned in 3,230 signatures calling for Lockney to remain behind bars.
''Mr. Chairman, about 80 percent of these signatures came by way of people calling us after reading the news stories and wanting to sign the petition,'' Fife told Capots.
Lockney, 46, already completed 15 years of a sentence this July and had been given a release date that month after an initial approval by a parole hearing officer and another parole board member who has since resigned.
Watkins penned a letter with his objections to force Monday's hearing with the full board.
Although Lockney was not at the hearing, family members sat on one side of the room with attorney Stephen Herron of the Ohio Public Defender's Office, who stressed that the inmate, formerly of Lordstown, completed a sex offender course in prison.
''He believes he has done everything he can do. He admitted responsibility. After talking with him, it's clear he cannot get over the fact that his daughter said she wanted him dead at a sexual predator hearing less than a month ago,'' Herron said.
Lockney's younger brother Ken Lockney said he was prepared to offer his home to his older brother should he be released. ''He was the perfect big brother for us, always protecting us. His sentencing was a shock to me. He wants a chance to redeem himself to society,'' said Ken Lockney. He said his brother was a veteran and was disabled in basic training.
Ken Lockney, a construction worker, said a representative of the parole board visited his home earlier and while he was away at work.
''He never looked inside, but told my sister that he noticed a lot of children in the neighborhood,'' he said.
The sexual predator label hung on the defendant last month by Common Pleas Judge W. Wyatt McKay means that if David Lockney ever gains his freedom, he must report his whereabouts to authorities every 90 days for the rest of his life. Authorities then alert neighbors, schools and day-care centers located nearby.
Watkins, who identified himself to the board as a career prosecutor since 1974, called David Lockney a ''monster'' who inflicted his 7-year-old daughter with permanent psychological and physical injuries, including herpes.
''After these repeated acts of perversion on a 49-pound girl, he rationalized, saying he was frustrated; he didn't have a job, he smoked marijuana and he wasn't having sex with his wife. That's not an excuse,'' Watkins said. ''Would you want him living next door to your family, children or grandchildren?''
Besides evidence, Watkins reminded the board of the new law recently enacted that calls for life sentences with no chance of parole for those who rape a child younger than age 10 if the defendant has a prior conviction or has caused serious physical harm.
''We don't ask that the law be applied retroactively here. But certainly the spirit of the law has to be considered by the board,'' Watkins said.
One of the first serious cases prosecuted by the special Child Assault Prosecution Unit, David Lockney was a 31-year-old truck driver at the time of the crime and eventually pleading guilty July 23, 1987, to four counts of raping his 7-year-old daughter. He was sentenced to four concurrent life sentences that provide for initial parole eligibility after 10 years.
Watkins told the board after they questioned him that the victim was prepared to testify at trial about being raped repeatedly between August 1986 and February 1987.
Jennifer Lockney, now an adult with two children of her own, couldn't hold back the tears even before she spoke to the board.
''If he was released he would only find another mother with kids and do the same thing. He should suffer the rest of his life,'' she said.
Several board members apologized to the victim, sympathizing with her on the difficulty of recalling the traumatic past.
She said her father would wake her up in the middle of the night and take her to a living room couch where she was raped more times than she remembers.
Jennifer Lockney's aunt, Barb Barshney, testified that she noticed what later were diagnosed as sores that were the result of herpes on her niece and wanted her to go to the hospital. She said David Lockney told her medical treatment wasn't necessary. ''He told me to mind my own f--ing business,'' she said.
