MARION, OH – Marion County Prosecutor Ray Grogan announced today that Thomas Chafin, who was found guilty by a jury of raping a 7-year-old child in November of 2022, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“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,” said 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 a 7-year-old child after an incident in August 2021. The child told her 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.
Chafin was sentenced by Judge Matthew P. Frericks.
Thomas Chafin