Sean Heineman

Sean Heineman, 48, was sentenced to 35 years in prison for sexually assaulting and raping a girl over the course of a decade, starting when she was six.

(Ida Lieszkovszky, NEOMG)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Area restaurateur Sean Heineman was sentenced to 35 years in prison Tuesday, hours after a jury convicted him of sexually molesting a girl starting when she was 6 years old and then raping her when she turned 11.

Heineman, 48, was found guilty of 30 counts of rape, unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, and gross sexual imposition. Two hours after the verdict was delivered, Cuyahoga Common Pleas Judge Daniel Gaul announced his sentence.

Gaul also required that Heineman register as a sexually oriented offender and pay a fee of $150,000 as well as court costs.

Heineman is a former franchisee of the Harry Buffalo restaurant in downtown Cleveland and also has been involved in several other area restaurants, including the Willoughby Brewing Company.

During the sentencing hearing, the victim, now an adult, turned to face Heineman and told him he took advantage of her as an "innocent, naive" child.

"I was groomed, I was manipulated by the perpetrator Sean Heineman for years," she said. "He told me that I wanted it, that he loved me, and that it was my fault. For the majority of my life, I believed this depraved lie. I considered myself a willing accomplice."

She said the verdict proved that "truth triumphs over money and power."

The victim testified during the trial that Heineman began sexually molesting her when she was 6 years old. She said he then began raping her when she was 11. Heineman is 24 years older than the victim.

She acknowledged that as an adult she had a consensual relationship with him. Heineman was married at the time. She told the jury during her testimony, "legally I was an adult, emotionally I was manipulated."

Prosecutors also played secretly recorded conversations between Heineman and the woman. Heineman can be heard at one point saying he feels bad about what happened between them. "I can't do anything," he says. "If I could make it right, I would...I just want you to move on."

Heineman maintained his innocence throughout the trial. He "absolutely" denied having sexually molested or raped the woman when she was a child. He said the two had an affair as adults, but "it was always consensual."

Heineman was offered a plea deal before the trial that called for 10 years in prison with the chance of parole after about five years, his defense attorney, Ian Friedman, said. Heineman refused that deal.

Friedman said he will appeal.

Friedman said after the sentencing that the victim's therapist, while not officially presented as an expert witness, was allowed to give testimony that was "clearly afoul of the rules," and was presented as if it were expert testimony.

"Sean's position in this case is different from [the victim's] and an appeal will follow," Friedman told the court during the sentencing. "I'm confident that the issues heard on appeal will bring us back for another trial."

But prosecuting attorney Brent Kirvel said in an interview after the sentencing that he's certain the evidence will convince the appeals court, especially the secretly recorded conversations between the victim and Heineman.

"You can't hide from your own voice when you're admitting to these types of crimes," Kirvel said. "While he's not exclaiming 'yes I raped you at 11' he's saying everything peripherally around that. They're clear admissions to the crime and that's the way the jury felt."