State v. MacPhereson, 2024 Ohio 5359

Alex MacPhereson was convicted in the Warren County Court of Common Pleas for multiple sexual offenses involving minor girls: two counts of gross sexual imposition and three counts of rape.
The victims, pseudonymously referred to as Amber (his daughter) and Beth (his girlfriend's daughter), both under 13 during the incidents, testified to multiple episodes of abuse by MacPhereson.
The allegations were reported in May 2023, leading to a police investigation and subsequent indictment in October 2023.
MacPhereson waived his right to a jury and proceeded to a bench trial, where he denied all accusations.
The trial court found MacPhereson guilty on most counts, sentencing him to consecutive prison terms totaling 25-years-to-life.
MacPhereson appealed, arguing insufficiency/weight of the evidence and error in imposing consecutive sentences.

Issue	MacPhereson's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of Evidence	Victims' uncorroborated minor testimony insufficient; he denied allegations	Testimony of a single witness, if credible, is sufficient; law does not require corroboration	Testimony found credible; conviction affirmed
Manifest Weight of Evidence	Verdict contrary to greater weight; credibility of minors questionable	Credibility is for the trial judge to determine; trial court did not lose its way	Verdict not against manifest weight; affirmed
Consecutive Sentences	Sentencing findings/analysis inadequate; prior criminal record not considered	Sentencing findings satisfied statutory requirements; seriousness of conduct and harm clear	Trial court made adequate statutory findings; sentence affirmed

State v. Paul, 2012-Ohio-3205 (sufficiency of evidence review standard)
State v. Graham, 2009-Ohio-2814 (manifest weight of evidence standard)
State v. Bonnell, 2014-Ohio-3177 (consecutive sentencing findings requirement)
State v. Martino, 2018-Ohio-2882 (deference to trier of fact's credibility determinations)