Kamer
Bond again has been denied for a man whose life sentence for rape were reversed by an appeals court.
A bond hearing for Gregory Kamer Jr. was held via video Thursday in the courtroom of Wood County Common Pleas Judge Joel Kuhlman.
Kamer has been in the Wood County jail since July 2022.
The 6th District Court of Appeals in June overturned Kamer’s November 2020 sentence of four consecutive sentences of life in prison without parole, plus 30 months.
The appeals court found that testimony and the improper admittance of numerous incriminating statements through hearsay testimony was allowed by former Wood County Common Pleas Judge Alan Mayberry.
Kamer was indicted on 12 charges related to the alleged sexual abuse of a child.
During his trial, the court allowed the child’s mother to testify about the alleged abuse disclosed to her. Kamer objected to her testimony. She later testified about the child’s history of fabricating stories.
Kamer also objected to information provided by a detective and a child abuse investigator.
Upon cross examination, the nurse who examined the child testified that she found no evidence of assault.
The appeals court also found that certain hearsay evidence was improperly admitted and likely affected the verdict, specifically the child’s incriminating statements — given through testimony of the police detective and the child abuse investigator — that was not part of the child’s testimony.
Defense attorney Scott Coon on Tuesday asked for bond to be set to allow Kamer to be released from prison.
Coon said his client has sat in jail for four years without ever being convicted on the offense. He said he didn’t believe there was strong evidence to get a conviction if this case goes to trial.
Kamer is in jail because of an assumption of guilt, Coon said.
“We do believe there’s very strong evidence he will be convicted again,” said Wood County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Pamela Gross.
A jury in October 2020 found Kamer guilty of four counts of rape and one count of gross sexual imposition. At sentencing, Mayberry imposed consecutive life terms in prison without the possibility of parole for each rape conviction and 30 months for the GSI conviction.
Kamer poses serious risk of harm to the witnesses, Gross said, adding that Kamer made numerous phone calls after the trial that threatened the mother of the alleged victim.
She detailed Kamer’s past conduct, which included multiple convictions for domestic violence, drug and alcohol violations, and more than a half dozen failures to appear.
“I don’t believe there is anything that would support the defendant’s release at this time,” Gross said, asking that Kramer remain incarcerated with no bond.
Kuhlman denied Coon’s request for bond.
“There is clear and convincing evidence he committed the charges of which he was accused,” Kuhlman said.
Kamer, 37, will remain in jail until his new trial on April 25.
Kuhlman also denied a request by Coon to require the state to preserve any interviews with the alleged child victim.
Coon said he was concerned prosecutors were going to talk to alleged victim and not record the interviews.
Kuhlman asked Gross if there was any harm in recording future interviews.
“I do have a problem with that,” Gross said. When she conducts an interview, “that is not required to be recorded.”
Coon said if he asks the child questions at trial and her answers were not documented, Gross becomes a witness.
In November 2018, Kamer was indicted on 12 charges related to the sexual abuse of a child who was 5 years old at the time.
Eight charges were for rape, all first-degree felonies; two were for gross sexual imposition, both third-degree felonies; and two were for disseminating matter harmful to juveniles.
Gross assured the court that during the retrial the state would introduce testimony for only the five counts that Kamer was found guilty of.
She said she had emailed Coon on March 21 with an alternative offer to resolve the case but had received no response.
The state’s offer was consecutive sentences that added up to 30 years to life.
