An octogenarian man could be facing life in prison without parole after allegedly raping a pair of children.
The Union County Grand Jury has indicted Garry L. Giles, 81, of 25071 Storms Rd., West Mansfield, charged with three counts of rape, five counts of gross sexual imposition, two counts of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles and one count of intimidation of a witness.
According to court documents, between February 2019 and January 13, Giles allegedly repeatedly raped a pair of children, both under 10. Court documents indicate both girls were 5 or 6 years old when the alleged abuse began.
“Garry L. Giles numerous times during this time period engaged in sexual acts with (the victim),” according to court documents, which detail several of the acts.
Union County Prosecutor Dave Phillips said the allegations include accusations of both sexual conduct, the rape charges, and sexual contact, the gross sexual imposition charges.
Phillips said Giles was related to the children. He said the children and their father had been at Giles’ home on multiple occasions.
The prosecutor said Giles allegedly showed the children pornography.
“I can’t say exactly why Mr. Giles chose to do it, but typically pornography is used to normalize behavior and groom children into believing behavior we would term as inappropriate to be a behavior that is appropriate,” Phillips said.
Giles allegedly told the girls not to tell anyone what he was doing.
Phillips said the two girls did tell Giles’ wife about the abuse.
“She had allegedly told the children not to tell their mother,” Phillips said. “Sometime later she said she told them to tell their father.”
Phillips said investigators are treating the wife as a victim and not looking at any charges against her, at least at this point.
“There is typically no duty to report the felony behavior of a close family relative,” explaining that there are also some spousal privileges when it comes to communications.
The children eventually told their mother, who contacted the Union County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators spoke with the children, who were also interviewed and examined by experts at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus.
Phillips said the investigation was “consistent” with the allegations.
“Since there were other children that could have been in danger or victimized, we went ahead and arrested him,” Phillips said.
He said the man was interviewed and made a statement after his arrest though the prosecutor said he could not comment on the details of Giles’ statement.
Phillips said since the arrest, “the sheriff’s office has been contacted by other individuals who have information or been victims of Mr. Giles.”
He said the investigation is “still ongoing” and officials believe there may be other victims that have not yet come forward.
“I would ask and encourage anyone if they have information or were a victim of Mr. Giles’ behavior, to contact Det. Seth McDowell at the sheriff’s office’s investigations division,” Phillips said.
McDowell can be contacted at (937) 645-4100, ext. 4428.
Phillips said that if convicted of raping a child under the age of 10, the two possible sentences are life in prison or life in prison without parole. He said the man’s advanced age will not change the way he prosecutes the case. He said that regardless of the man’s age or physical condition, the victims deserve justice.
“You would think that at a certain age, this would not be an issue, but obviously it is,” Phillips said. “This is at least the third elderly person we have charged with raping or sexually assaulting a child.”