After a multi-year investigation, a Butler County grand jury indicted a Cincinnati man on two dozen felony counts, including 17 counts of rape involving three children, authorities said.
Antwon W. Burns, 41, of the Cincinnati suburb of Forest Park, was directly indicted by a Butler County grand jury this week, according to a report issued late Friday afternoon.
In addition to the rape charges, Burns was charged with four counts of gross sexual imposition and three counts of intimidation.
Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser declined to comment on the victims’ ages or genders. He did state that it involves three victims.
Burns will be arraigned next week before Butler County Common Pleas Judge Greg Howard, though no date has been set as of Friday afternoon.
Gmoser stated that if Burns is found guilty of certain charges, he could spend the rest of his life in jail.
“The allegations are so serious that he is facing multiple life sentences for the conduct that’s alleged in this case,” the prosecutor said.
The prosecutor stated that one of the first allegations, made over 15 years ago, occurred in Hamilton County, and that “there are no statute of limitations issues in this case.”
Burns’ alleged crimes span 2009 to 2023, with the majority of the rape charges involving a child or children, as well as all four gross sexual imposition charges, according to the indictment. Rape is a first-degree felony, while gross sexual imposition is a third-degree felony.
The indictment does not specify who Burns allegedly intimidated, but Ohio law makes it a third-degree felony to intimidate an attorney, victim, or witness.
