COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Marion man was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the rape of a 7-year-old child.
The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office announced 61-year-old Thomas Chafin received his sentence from Judge Matthew P. Frericks on Friday after being found guilty by a jury in November 2022.
“Quite frankly, life in prison is too good for Chafin, but at least we know he will not be able to hurt any more children,” Marion County Prosecutor Ray Grogan. “He is a monster who will now have to sit in a cell for the rest of his life and think about what he has done.”
Chafin was accused by the child after an incident in August 2021.
The prosecutor’s office said the child told their mother, a nurse at the Hardin Memorial Hospital and a social worker at the Child Advocacy Center of Nationwide Children’s Hospital details about the incident
The Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) completed a report which was presented to the jury showing abrasions along the child’s thigh, corroborating the child’s statement that Chafin scratched her during the incident.
“I want to thank Bill Owen and John Scott for their incredible work trying this case to the jury. I also want to thank the Marion Police Department, the Hardin Memorial Hospital, the Children’s Advocacy Center at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and Ohio Attorney General, Dave Yost’s Office - BCI for their incredible work on this case,” said Grogan.
