Nick Bechtel

nbechtel@marionstar.com

Javier Armengau sentenced 9 years for rape of a client

Armengau sentenced 4 consecutive years for kidnapping

Charges of sexual battery%2C gross sexual imposition and public indecency to be served concurrently

COLUMBUS - Moments before issuing the sentence, Judge David Fais gave pause to reflect on the attorney accused of assaulting multiple women.

"I wonder which Javier Armengau I'm looking at," he said, addressing the 52-year-old man who was convicted of nine sex offenses with clients last month. "I think that you have been an effective trial lawyer. I don't doubt that you've been a loving son and a caring father. I don't question that.

"But there's a different Javier Armengau outside this courtroom, outside this courthouse. I am convinced that the challenges you have, the demons that you may possess, your insatiable sexual appetite, those things have brought you to this courtroom."

Fais, judge at the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, then issued a 13-year prison sentenced to Javier Armengau.

Armengau, a defense attorney who has worked in Marion and Columbus, was sentenced to prison for nine years for one count of rape, a first-degree felony, and four years for kidnapping, a second-degree felony.

Four felony charges sexual battery, two felony charges of gross sexual imposition and one misdemeanor charge of public indecency – which combine for an additional 10 years – were ruled to be served concurrently to the other charges.

Prosecuting attorney Daniel Breyer said these acts were "a reign of terror" on clients and family of clients.

Armengau also will be considered a Tier 3 sex offender by the State of Ohio once he is released.

The Tuesday afternoon sentencing was issued after Armengau addressed the court for nearly an hour. As a practicing defense attorney before he was disbarred from practicing law, Armengau was able to elegantly criticize the jury system and pick apart witness testimonies all while denying that he had committed the accused acts.

"To do that would justify the unjustifiable," he said. "I didn't commit a crime."

He mentioned witness testimony of one woman from Marion who claimed to have made a report to the Marion Police Department involving Armengau. Armengau said there was no record of that report existing despite that the woman had filed four other sexual assault reports prior to his case.

Tearfully, he finished his statement by addressing his children, father and fiancée.

"I've lost my home, I've lost everything," he said. "But my children are about to lose their home. They're more important than anything."

His fiancée, Nicole Sill, said "his sole responsibility and sole purpose in life is to care for others, especially his family and his children."

Breyer said it was a recorded phone call by one of the witnesses that helped launch the criminal investigation that "completely changed this defendant's life."

"It was the first one of these victims that who stood up to him, confronted him and make a recording so that conversation could be preserved forever."

Defense attorney Frederick Benton said Armengau was a friend.

"I still believe in this man," he said. "I still believe he was a good lawyer, still believe that he was a good father, still believe he was a good person, regardless of the findings that were made by this jury."

Sill, who also addressed the court before the sentencing, said the trial has strengthened their relationship.

"I have been blessed enough to be brought into what I believe to be every single aspect of this man's life within the last three years," she said. "He has hidden nothing from me.

Armengau and Benton said they intend to appeal the case.

The defense attorney engaged in sexual conduct with five victims dating back to 1998 according to the indictment. His accusers included clients and mothers of clients.

Armengau was found guilty of the charges on July 7. He was found not guilty on an additional nine charges.

Fais praised the Franklin County jury, noting that they were "focused and determined" during the three-week trial.

The original sentencing hearing was postponed for two weeks so Fais could have additional time to review the case, according to a representative from his office.

Armengau has represented high-profile clients in Marion, including Vanessa Manley and Raymond Bertuzzi in murder trials, Robert Nichols in a homicide case and Chad Messenger on kidnapping and rape charges.

nbechtel@marionstar.com

740-375-5155

Twitter: @NickMStar