Convicted man faces more than 100 years in prison

A man accused of kidnapping, beating and raping a woman for two days was convicted on 18 counts Friday by a Clark County jury, but his attorney said Monday he will request a new trial.

According to court documents, Robert L. Nesser Sr., 40, address at large, is alleged to have beat and sexually assaulted a 42-year-old woman he knows while holding her against her will at an abandoned home and a motel on May 10 and 11 in Springfield.

The jury found Nesser guilty on four counts of rape, four counts of kidnapping, six counts of felonious assault, three counts of domestic violence and one count of robbery. Nesser could serve more than 100 years in prison, pending sentencing.

A sentencing hearing before O’Neill hadn’t been set on Monday according to the court docket, but Nesser’s attorney said it was scheduled for Feb. 1.

Defense attorney James Griffin said he will file a motion for a new trial before Clark County Common Pleas Judge Richard O’Neill and, if not granted, he will appeal the conviction. Griffin declined further comment on Monday.

The woman told Springfield detectives she’d been assaulted by Nesser in a domestic violence incident several days before the kidnapping and had reported it to police, resulting in police requesting warrants for Nesser’s arrest.

Shortly after making that report, she was walking behind a fueling station at West North Street and Western Avenue when Nesser walked up behind her, police said, and hit her over the head with a beer bottle.

He dragged her to an abandoned house in the 900 block of Broadway Street where he beat her with a leather belt, choked her until she passed out, and sexually assaulted her while she was unconscious, police said.

The woman was placed in the basement and each time she tried to leave, she was beaten harder with the belt, she told detectives.

Eventually he took her to the Executive Inn and rented a room, police said, where he beat, kicked and sexually assaulted her several more times.

Nesser was picked up by police on the warrants that had been requested in the previous case as they walked from the motel.

Detectives later interviewed her at Springfield Regional Medical Center, where she was being treated for the injuries she sustained in the beatings.

The Clark County assistant prosecutor in the case couldn’t be reached for comment Monday afternoon.

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