Man receives sentence for raping 3 children for years

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — A city man convicted last month by a jury on sexual assault charges was sentenced Thursday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to 44 and a half years to life in prison.

Robert Tullio, 55, received the sentence from Judge Anthony D’Apolito, on three convictions of rape, a first-degree felony, with two of those counts carrying mandatory 10 years to life sentences; and 10 counts of gross sexual imposition, which are third and fourth-degree felonies.

Tullio was accused of raping three young children over a period of several years. He has been in the county jail since he was arrested following his October 2022 indictment.

Jurors found him guilty April 11 following a trial before Judge D’Apolito.

Assistant Prosecutor Caitlyn Andrews asked for a sentence of 35 years to life. Andrews said Tullio abused the victims, three young girls, for years.

One of the victims in the case is now 34 years old, Andrews said.

Andrews said Tullio violated the trust the victims and their families put in him.

“The things he did when no one was around [were] heinous and disgusting,” Andrews said.

The crimes took place over a span of 25 years, which shows the abuse was repeated and warrants a lengthy sentence, he said.

One of the victims, whose hands were shaking as she read from a statement, said she was silent for years because she wanted to protect her brother.

She said the case and the trial has made her stronger and she will move on and tell her story.

“I hope everyone got a glimpse of the hell we had to go through,” she said. “I’m here today to regain my body, my self-worth and my self-love.”

She asked that the judge give Tullio a sentence of life with no parole because of the pain he caused and the effects his abuse would have on her and the other victims for the rest of her life.

Another victim told the judge that she is still trying to process all that happened to her.

She said the abuse started when she was 10 years old.

“I didn’t know that I was being groomed,” she said.

She said Tullio told her he loved her and bought her things while the abuse was going on, which helped lead to confusion.

“When I think of my childhood, I think of a scared little girl that’s crying for help,” she said.

“It will take time to recover emotionally and psychologically but I thank you and the jury for hearing our stories.”

Defense attorney Mark Lavelle said he will be filing an appeal. He advised Tullio to watch what he said because Tullio maintained his innocence.

Lavelle also said prosecutors want to punish Tullio for exercising his constitutional right to take his case to trial by asking for a lengthy sentence.

Tullio did not speak “on the advice of my counsel.”

Judge D’Apolito said during the trial he was “struck by what they went through.” He said he does not hold a defendant’s right to have a trial against them, but he also can not ignore what the testimony in the trial shows.

He also said a jury found Tullio guilty of several counts after hearing all the evidence.

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