Guilty Verdict in Clinton County Rankinen Child Rape Case

Joseph Rankinen

LOCK HAVEN — A Clinton County jury of six men and six women Friday afternoon returned a guilty verdict in the case of a former Jersey Shore resident charged with the rape of a 12-year-old girl in 2011.

Joseph Scott Rankinen, 24, was found guilty of rape, rape of a child and three related offenses stemming from the assault at the Clinton County Fairgrounds in May of 2011. Closing arguments were held Friday morning. The victim, now 18, was the first prosecution witness on Thursday. She told the court she had remained silent for so many years because she had been terrorized by threats from Rankinen.

The case was prosecuted by District Attorney Dave Strouse who told the jury the “horrific” encounter in 2011 was such that she did not tell her mother of the attack until 2015. It was reported to have occurred in a restroom at the fairgrounds. Defense counsel was Karen Muir. Judge Michael Salisbury presided over the trial.

The jury deliberated for some four hours before returning its guilty verdict. Rankinen was returned to the Clinton County Correctional Facility for a pre-sentence investigation and a sex offender assessment; sentencing was set for September.

Rankinen was most recently in state prison serving a 10 to 20 year term for the rape of a 4-year-old boy in Woodward Township in 2012.

President Judge Craig Miller had sentenced Rankinen in June of 2015 to 10 to 20 years in prison on one count of rape of a child. State police at the time said the criminal actions had occurred over a five month period beginning in December of 2012. The court noted at the time of the sentencing that Rankinen, formerly of 130 Middle Road, Jersey Shore, has been designated as a sexually violent predator.

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