A Marion man will spend at least 18 years in prison for the rape of a 14-year old local girl.
Union County Common Pleas Court Judge Don Fraser recently sentenced Jaden Michael Thomas Darst-Mullins, 19, to 18 to 23 years in prison.
DARST-MULLINS
In November, Darst-Mullins pleaded guilty to two counts of rape and one count of kidnapping.
Fraser called the crime a “brutal” forcible rape of a 14-year old girl.
According to court documents, on Sept. 16, 2019, Darst-Mullins went to the girl’s home and broke into her locked bedroom.
Union County Prosecutor David Phillips said the victim, 14 at the time of the alleged rape, knew Darst-Mullins.
According to court documents, at about 4 a.m., the girl was sleeping but woke as Darst-Mullins was “pinning her to the bed and attempting to remove her clothes.”
“The victim struggled against the defendant’s attempts and tried to shout out,” according to court documents. “(Darst-Mullins) prevented this by placing his hands over her mouth and neck and strangling her.”
Through the entire rape, “the victim continued to resist defendant’s actions,” according to court documents.
At one point during the rape, Darst-Mullins put a purse strap around the victim’s neck in an attempt to strangle her.
Phillips said the matter came to light when the girl told a boyfriend, who told family members, which contacted the Marysville Division of Police.
According to court documents, investigators were able to collect a several pieces of forensic evidence consistent with the allegation.
Through the investigation, it became known that in June of 2019, Darst-Mullins had broken into the girls room and pinned her to the bed, holding a butter knife to her throat.
“(Darst-Mullins) only ceased this conduct when he was discovered by an adult in the house,” according to court documents. “The adult described the victim as actively struggling against defendant while he was pinning her down.”
Darst-Mullins initially pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Darst-Mullins was evaluated by two mental health professionals. Both agreed Darst-Mullins did not suffer from a mental defect and was capable of knowing the wrongfulness of his actions.
Eventually, Darst-Mullins changed his plea to guilty in exchange for prosecutors dropping one of the kidnapping charges.
In December, just weeks before the scheduled sentencing hearing, Darst-Mullins tried to withdraw his guilty plea and fire his attorney. Eventually he changed his mind and confirmed the guilty plea.
At sentencing, Union County Assistant Prosecutor Andrew Bigler argued that the facts and circumstances surrounding the offenses amounted to some of the most serious forms of the offense, considering the kidnapping involved a weapon placed on the victim’s throat, and the rape involved physically covering her mouth and strangling her with her with his hands and her own purse strap to keep her from shouting out.
Darst-Mullins said that during the rape, he felt like he was sleep walking and claimed he was in a dream state when he committed the crime.
While there are two rape convictions against Darst-Mullins, because they involve the same incident, he could only be sentenced on one count of each.
Fraser imposed a sentence of 10 to 15 years in prison for the rape and eight years in prison for the kidnapping to run consecutive to the rape sentence.
Darst-Mullins must register as a sex offender every 90 days for the remainder of his life.
Kidnapping does not always mean taking someone, it can mean holding them against their will. Phillips has said it is “the restraint” in this case that led to kidnapping charges against Darst-Mullins.
Phillips has said that while the offender “hiding in the bushes” is a danger, that is “not as much of a risk as people who are known to and have access to children.”
He said that, “the majority of child sexual cases, it is a known person or relative who is the perpetrator.”
The prosecutor said it is “important to always be attentive.”
He said that often times the child is threatened and scared and doesn’t want to get anyone in trouble so they don’t say anything.
He said parents need to watch their children, know who they are with and watch for changes in behavior of emotions which, “can be red flags.”
“Talk to your children and make sure that they can talk to you and tell you when something like this happens,” Phillips has said.