Clinton County Jury Selected in Child Rape Case
Trial dates of June 22 and 23 have been set for the accused, Joseph Scott Rankinen, 22. The defendant 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.
Judge Michael Salisbury will hear the case, to be prosecuted by the office of Clinton County District Attorney Dave Strouse. The trial is based on the alleged 2011 rape at the Clinton County Fairgrounds. Little information is available on the pending case as court records are sealed.
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.
Rankinen had told the court at the time of his sentencing that he had been a victim of a sexual assault when he was eight years old.
