YOUNGSTOWN — The rape, felonious assault and child endangering charges filed against Mark Andrews, 66, of Hilton Avenue in Youngstown were dismissed Friday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

The single count of felony child endangering filed against Rita D. Crockett, 61, of the same address as Andrews, also was dismissed Friday. She was indicted as Andrews’ co-defendant.

Both were indicted in November 2023, and both were scheduled to go on trial today before Judge Anthony D’Apolito, but the Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office filed a motion to dismiss the charges Thursday, and D’Apolito approved the dismissal Friday, according to court records.

When Mahoning County Prosecutor Lynn Maro was asked Monday the reason for asking for the charges to be dismissed, she stated that “Information came to light during preparation for trial that led all prosecutors involved to believe the charges could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The Nov. 16 superseding indictments in the case alleged that Andrews committed offenses against a child less than 13 years of age in December 2022 and that Crockett also committed an offense in that same time frame.

Andrews was facing a possible life prison sentence if he would have been convicted. Crockett was looking at possibly several years in prison if convicted.

Bond for Andrews was set at $150,000 in January of 2024, and he was in the county jail from Oct.13, 2023, until March 11, 2025, according to jail records. Crockett posted $15,000 bond Nov. 29, 2023.