KENTON, Ohio — The man convicted in the kidnapping, rape and attempted murder of a 7-year-old girl last year in Hardin County has filed an appeal for his sentence.
According to court records in Hardin County, 57-year-old Charles Castle filed the request on Aug. 5.
Castle was sentenced to 10 years to life plus 35 years in prison on July 26, a week after he was found guilty on 16 charges against him.
If ever released from prison, he would be required to register as a tier III sex offender.
During the trial, the prosecution said the girl was left with brain damage and lingering mobility issues after Castle took her from her home on Nov. 11, 2021.
Castle, a longtime family friend, drove her to his RV that was just a couple of blocks away.
Her parents testified that her father went to Castle's RV and asked if he had seen her. Testimony revealed the girl was bound and trapped inside a closet in the RV.
Castle then moved the girl to the basement of an abandoned home on County Road 180. 10TV was there as jurors were taken to the home on the first day of the trial.
The prosecution said that is where she was sexually assaulted, choked to the point of unconsciousness and left for dead.
In a video deposition, the victim described having a lamp cord wrapped around her neck to the point of passing out and then waking up in the basement.
She would remain in that freezing, dark basement, without food or water, until she was found late on the night of Nov. 12. Castle was arrested and charged the same day.
After a seven-day trial, a jury found Castle guilty of seven counts of kidnapping, one count of rape, one count of attempted murder, one count of felonious assault and seven other charges.