A Bellefontaine resident was convicted in late June and sentenced to prison on felony rape charges.
Noah O. Taylor, 28, accepted a plea agreement June 27, according to Logan County Common Pleas Court records.
Taylor was sentenced July 10 to a mandatory indefinite prison term of 10 years to life by Judge Kevin P. Braig.
The defendant will not be eligible for parole for at least 10 years, Logan County Prosecutor Eric Stewart said. He noted that such offenders rarely, if ever, get paroled on their first attempt.
In addition to the prison sentence, the defendant will have to register as a Tier 3 sex offender for life in the event he is paroled.
In exchange for a guilty plea on two counts of first-degree felony rape, two other counts of first-degree felony rape and one count of gross sexual imposition, a third-degree felony, were dismissed.
Taylor was arrested for rape involving a victim under the age of 13 on April 22 and held on $500,000 bond in the Logan County Jail.
Stewart said the plea agreement prevented a young victim from having to testify at trial.
The prosecutor commended Logan County Sheriff’s deputies and detectives for their handling of the rape investigation.
