Oxford sexual assault: Victim speaks in court as 3 men sent to prison

Three men have been sent to prison for an incident involving the sexual assault of a woman who was visiting Oxford in February.

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In April, Roger Richard Michael Simpson, 24, of Cincinnati, was found guilty of 23 felony crimes, including 10 counts of rape, sexual battery, complicity to rape and kidnapping after a four-day trial. On Friday, Butler County Common Pleas Judge Michael Oster sentenced him to 51 years in prison.

Elijah Lee Mincy, 22, of Oxford, who was charged with 23 felony crimes, but took a plea deal pleading guilty to rape and kidnapping, was sentenced to eight years in prison.

The third defendant, Rodney Adrian Louis Gibson II, 22, of Cincinnati, was charged with 26 felony crimes, but also took a plea deal, pleading guilty to complicity to kidnapping. He was sentenced to five years in prison.

The crimes involved a woman, who was 19 years old at the time, who was visiting Oxford on Feb. 11 and 12, 2017. The assault occurred in an off-campus apartment complex on Southpointe Parkway, according to Oxford police.

The victim was intoxicated at a party at the apartment and went with one of the men to another apartment where the assault occurred, police said.

Prosecutors say the three men assaulted the woman and held her against her will for about 90 minutes at the residence before the woman rejoined her friends and told them she had been raped.

The victim addressed each man during the separate sentencing hearings.

“Before you I was fearless … I was looking forward to my future,” the victim told them.

She said she now had difficulty with everyday life.

“My body, my life, my choice was nothing to you,” she said.

Simpson’s attorney Donald Leroy pointed out to the judge that he has a 1-year-old son and he would like to remain active in the child’s life. There were also a number of church members in attendance in support of Simpson.

“He is sorry for his actions,” Leroy said.

In his address to the judge, Simpson offered an apology to his son and mother “for putting them through the pain of me having to go to prison.”

He quoted scripture and said he would pray for the victim, but did not offer an apology.

Both Mincy and Gibson, who was the person the victim went to visit prior to the assault, did apologize for their actions.

Defense attorneys for Mincy and Gibson pointed out the men and no previous criminal history, were high school graduates and, at the time of offenses, were enrolled at Miami University.

Michele Temmel, Mincy’s attorney said, “friends and family when I talk to them about Elijah, they describe him as being kind, thoughtful, a hard worker, trustworthy and respectful.”

A number of family members, some sobbing, spoke to the judge on Gibson’s behalf.

Defense attorney Scott Kruger said Gibson is “very selfless and interested in the welfare of others.”

“He is remorseful,” Kruger said, pointing out that Gibson apologized to the victim soon after the incident.

When imposing the sentences, Oster called the crime heinous, but noted both Mincy and Gibson took responsibility for their actions and apologized.

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