YOUNGSTOWN — A man convicted of raping a child will spend 15 years to life behind bars.

Judge John M. Durkin sentenced Samuel Aponte-Rodriguez, 26, of Campbell on Tuesday, two weeks after a jury convicted him of raping a child at a home in Campbell in late 2022.

The jury also found him guilty on one count of gross sexual imposition but not guilty of a second rape count and guilty of gross sexual imposition.

Kevin Day, county assistant prosecutor, said in opening statements during the trial that the girl went to her babysitter’s house the day of the rapes while her mother went to work, and the relative who picked the child up told her mother that the girl was reporting “discomfort” in her private area.

The mother testified Wednesday that she took the girl to an urgent care the next day to see if she was having a urinary tract infection, but also asked the girl if someone had touched her. The girl told her that the babysitter’s stepson had touched her. The girl’s mother took the girl home and then took her to Akron Children’s Hospital two days later, where police were called and an investigation began.

The final witness in the trial was Amanda McAllen, a nurse practitioner at Akron Children’s Hospital, who testified to her role in examining the child and observing the interview that another staff member carried out at the Child Advocacy Center about 10 days after the girl’s first trip to Akron Children’s Hospital.

After a hospital social worker talked to the child, McAllen did a “complete head-to-toe examination,” including an examination of the child’s private areas. The child was then interviewed by another staff member. McAllen listened to the interview to help her determine the treatment the child needs.

The other staff member used “open-ended questions and allowed the patient to give their own recollection of what occurred to them.

McAllen testified that the girl described “sexual, inappropriate touching” and other things. Day asked if he understood correctly that McAllen “found that this case was highly concerning for sexual abuse?” McAllen answered “Yes.”

Under cross examination, Kivlighan asked McAllen if she recalled that during the interview with the child, the child identified a male with a name different than Aponte as having “touched her,” and McAllen said, “I vaguely recall that.”

Kivlighan asked if she recalled that the girl said the male was “a kid,” and McAllen said, “I don’t recall that.”

Kivlighan asked if McAllen remembered the child saying who the male (child) lived with, and McAllen said, “I do recall that.”

He asked McAllen if she recalled that the child said the male did not live in the house where the rapes allegedly took place.

“I don’t recall that,” McAllen said.

In opening statements in the trial, Kivlighan told jurors that during the interview of the girl, she accused a boy of committing offenses against her.

“And what happened after that? Nothing,” Kivlighan said. “Was there any additional investigation on who this (boy) was? Did the police follow up on this? No.”