(JACKSON, Ohio) — An Ohio man who hid out on the West Coast to avoid justice after raping a 4-year-old has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced today.
“Rape is a violation of the body, the mind and the soul and its trauma has a lifetime impact on survivors,” Yost said. “It is fitting that this predator will spend the rest of his days behind bars, he will molest no more children in no prison.”
A Jackson County Common Pleas Court judge sentenced Jason Rowland, 38, to life in prison without the possibility of parole, as well as a “no contact” order and a lifetime requirement to register as a Tier 3 sex offender. On Aug. 20, Rowland had been convicted of one count of rape of a victim under the age of 10, a felony of the first degree, and one count of gross sexual imposition, a felony of the third degree.
The charges stemmed from 2012 when Rowland sexually assaulted a child and subsequently fled to Seattle.
An investigation conducted by the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation with assistance from the Seattle Police Department led to the discovery of Rowland’s location. Authorities charged and arrested Rowland and then extradited him back to Ohio to answer for his crimes.
The Special Prosecutions Section of the Attorney General’s Office prosecuted the case.