Immediate Press Release
Contact- Colleen M. O’Toole
216/509-5433
IN RE: State of Ohio vs. Joshua Dale Gurto
Case Number 2022-A-0045
On December 18, 2004, a woman returned home alone from her job as a bartender. After falling asleep watching television, she awoke to a noise in her home. She disregarded the noise and returned to sleep. She later awoke to a stranger holding his hand around her throat and a hammer to her head. After attempting to plead with the intruder, the victim lost consciousness on the bed. At some point, the intruder hit the victim on the head with the hammer, lacerating the victim’s head. When the victim regained consciousness, she had been moved underneath her bed, and her lights were on. When the victim emerged from under the bed, the intruder approached her with the hammer and threatened to kill her. The victim wrestled the hammer away from the intruder, grabbed his testicles, and chased him from the home. The victim called 911, and at that point realized that her underwear had been removed. A rape kit was performed on the victim at the hospital that resulted in the discovery of seminal fluid. A pair of men’s underwear was located by law enforcement outside of the victim’s home. Testing on the swabs from the rape kit and the underwear indicated the presence of the victim’s DNA as well as the DNA of an unknown male. A suspect was not located until the case was resubmitted for analysis in 2020, which resulted in a match between Gurto’s DNA and the DNA collected in the present case.
Thereafter, an indictment was filed charging Gurto with two counts of aggravated burglary, a first-degree felony, in violation of R.C. 2911.11(A) and (B); one count of rape, a first-degree felony, in violation of R.C. 2907.02(A)(2); and one count of felonious assault, a second-degree felony, in violation of R.C. 2903.11(A)(2) and (D).
Gurto initially entered not guilty pleas to all counts. However, he thereafter changed his plea to guilty on all counts. The parties waived a presentence investigation, and the trial court proceeded to sentencing shortly thereafter on the same date. The court determined that the two (2) aggravated burglary counts merged for purposes of sentencing. In an entry dated May 16, 2022, the trial court sentenced Gurto to ten (10) years of incarceration on the first count of aggravated burglary, ten (10) years of incarceration on the rape count, and eight (8) years of incarceration on the felonious assault count, with all terms to run consecutively, for a total prison term of twenty-eight (28) years.
Appellant, Joshua Dale Gurto, appeals his sentence following his guilty pleas to two (2) counts of aggravated burglary, one (1)count of rape, and one (1) count of felonious assault. The Court of Appeals of Ohio Eleventh Appellate District Ashtabula County has affirmed.
