North Carolina man gets 10 years for rape in Warren County

A man already serving time for kidnapping in North Carolina was sentenced on Thursday to 10 years in prison for a rape committed in Middletown in 2017.

Judge Timothy Tepe also classified Lency August, 51, of Hamlet, N.C., a Tier III sex offender, according to court records.

August’s lawyer, Tom Eagle, said he would be appealing the conviction and noted the jury acquitted August of all but one charge against him.

Earlier this month, a jury found August guilty of raping a "female acquaintance," according to a press release issued by the Warren County Prosecutor's Office.

RELATED: 44 indicted in Butler, Warren counties

On Feb. 22, 2017, August sexually assaulted the victim near the Kohl’s store in Middletown as she was driving him to work, according to the press release.

August became angry and struck the victim in the face and forced the vehicle to side of the store, the release said.

The woman reported the rape the next day, while August “fled to North Carolina and committed additional crimes for which he is currently serving a prison sentence,” according to the release.

August “did not flee anywhere. He was moving back home,” defense lawyer Tom Eagle said, adding August insisted the sex was consensual.

August was charged with rape, kidnapping, possession of a firearm and a crime against nature in 2017 in Richmond County, N.C., according to an article in the Richmond County Daily Journal.

The article described August as a habitual felon who spent most of the last 16 years in prison.

He was indicted in February in Warren County on three counts of rape and two counts of kidnapping.

On Nov. 15, a jury found him not guilty on two rape charges and both kidnapping charges, according to court records.

MORE: Middletown boy, 13, charged with rape sent back to detention center

August will be returned to North Carolina, where he is serving six years in prison, according to North Carolina records.

He is to return to Ohio to serve the Warren County sentence once he completes his prison time in North Carolina.

About the Author