Trumbull County prosecutor opposes parole for ‘sexual predator’
Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins is opposing the parole of sexual predator David Lockney.
Lockney, 67, has been incarcerated at Lake Erie Correctional Institution serving four life sentences on four rape and one attempted rape convictions. He will be interviewed by three members of the Ohio Adult Parole Authority later this month outside his prison cell as the possible first step toward being released after serving 36 years in prison.
In a 13-page letter, Watkins cites reasons why that should not happen.
What was David Lockney accused of?
Lockney is accused of brutally assaulting a female relative beginning when she was 6 years old and continuing for months in homes in Warren and Lordstown until she was 7. The case broke when the girl was found with various sexually transmitted diseases and had to be hospitalized for a period of 16 days in 1987.
“What Lockney did repeatedly to his (victim) and the sheer magnitude of the intentional violence on her little body parts was so horrific that words cannot serve to give a true explanation of the pain and suffering (she) endured. But the medical records and doctor’s photographs do!” Watkins said. “David Lockney is a Sexual Predator.”
In his letter to the parole board, WatkinsIt emphasized that Judge W. Wyatt McKay’s finding of fact in the case shows that when David Lockney’s 7-year-old victim was seriously ill with sexually transmitted infections and diseases (caused by him), Lockney said to the victim’s aunt, who viewed the girl’s condition and suggested that she be taken to a hospital for treatment.
Lockney told her to mind her own “f---ing “ business and declined. The girl was eventually taken to the hospital by someone else and spent 16 days there recovering.
“By the grace of God, she survived and has recovered and gone on with her life,” Watkins said who recently met with the now 44-year-old victim and her husband.
“The trauma and pain is still very real to her today. She truly does not want to testify again – the thought of a full board hearing brings tears to her eyes but she immediately gains her composure and her response is ‘I will be there,’ ‘’ Watkins wrote to the board. “(The woman) is a model of a victim survivor with the heart of a lioness! One who has overcome the worst scenario and has positively gone on in living her life!”
Why was the David Lockney case notable?
Watkins has noted that the Lockney case was one of the first cases of the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Child Assault Division which was started by the office by a federal grant in 1986. In this case, Prosecutor Watkins was co-counsel with attorney Carol Sopkovich who headed the division. Investigator Sue Stinedurf also assisted in the Lockney case.
“The grant awarded to the Prosecutor’s Office was the result of the supportive efforts of the Trumbull County Children Services Agency, at the time headed by Craig Neuman. Mary Jane Julian was the CSB case worker on the Lockney case,” Watkins said.
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This story was originally published September 1, 2023 at 4:00 PM.