For three months, Andre Winters rode his bike around North Toledo and sought out young victims to rape and rob, an assistant Lucas County prosecutor said yesterday.
Hours into jury selection for his trial, the 18-year-old man entered an Alford plea to four counts of aggravated robbery, three counts of kidnapping, three counts of rape, and one count of robbery. The rape charges and one of the aggravated robbery charges carry gun specifications.
The charges stem from separate incidents during which Winters, of 222 East Weber St., approached teenage girls, two of whom were on their way to school, and pulled them into an abandoned area to sexually assault them at gunpoint. He also was convicted of using a gun to rob several teenage boys.
Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Ruth Ann Franks set sentencing for March 20. Winters faces a maximum of 120 years in prison. He also will have to register as a sexual offender for the rest of his life.
As part of a plea agreement, three aggravated robbery charges, a robbery charge, and several gun specifications as well as the specification that the defendant was a sexually motivated offender will be dismissed.
Defense attorney Adrian Cimerman said the agreement shielded Winters from a life sentence, which is a possibility if a jury found Winters guilty of the sexual oriented offender specification.
"We avoided up to life," he said after the hearing.
The plea was made after attorneys began selecting jurors for a trial on the rape charges. Winters was to face the robbery charges in a separate trial.
Assistant County Prosecutor Jennifer Donovan said during the hearing that the victims and the investigating officers approved the plea agreement. She added that Winters never admitted to raping the girls and that he instead contended that the sexual contact was consensual.
In an Alford plea, the defendant maintains his innocence or does not admit he committed a crime, but still pleads guilty because he decides it's in his best interest. The court treats it the same as a guilty plea.
The North Toledo teenager was arrested Nov. 28, a day after police identified him as a suspect in several rapes. Ms. Donovan said that in each of the three rape cases, Winters' DNA would have been used as evidence.
Ms. Donovan said Winters approached a 14-year-old girl on Aug. 23 in North Toledo while she was walking near Central Avenue and Lagrange Street at about 4:30 a.m. The girl mistook him for a man she knew. Winters brandished a gun, attempted to rob her, and then brought her to a nearby alley where he put a gun to her head and raped her.
About a month later, he approached a Waite High School student as she walked to school. Winters approached the girl early on Sept. 25 and pulled a gun on her. He then forced her between several homes where he raped her and then robbed her, Ms. Donovan said.
The third sexual assault occurred on Oct. 18 when a 15-year-old girl on her way to Woodward High School was dragged into an alley on Mulberry Street and raped. Winters put a gun to the victim's head and stole her property, Ms. Donovan said.
The aggravated robbery and robbery charges occurred over a period of nine days in October. In those incidents, young men were approached and told, "Give me everything you have." In one instance, Winters robbed a pizza delivery man of $60 and a pizza.
Winters' family members declined to comment.
Assistant County Prosecutor Jennifer Lambdin pointed out that despite the plea, Winters faces a maximum of 120 years in prison.
"We're very comfortable with it at this point," she said. She declined further comment until after the sentencing.
Contact Erica Blake at:
eblake@theblade.com
or 419-213-2134.
First Published March 4, 2008, 2:53 p.m.
