A 26-year old Akron man will spend almost as much time behind bars as he is old for the rape of a teenager in July 2011.

Prosecutors charged James Winchester of Kline Avenue for grabbing the girl off the street when she refused his offer of a ride, then raping her before pushing her out of his car. He was convicted of rape and kidnapping and was also tagged as a Tier III sex offender -- the worst, a label he'll wear for life.

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(Summit County Prosecutor - news release) Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh announced today that Judge Tom Teodosio sentenced James Winchester, 26, of Kline Avenue in Akron, to 18 years in prison for raping an Akron teenager. Teodosio also deemed Winchester a Tier III sex offender.

In the early hours of July 17, 2011, Winchester and another man drove up to a female teenager and offered her a ride as she walked to her grandmother’s house. The girl declined and continued walking. Winchester stopped the SUV he was driving, got out of the car, grabbed the girl’s wrist and shoved her into the car.

After dropping off his friend, Winchester took the girl to a nearby abandoned house, where he raped her in front of the SUV. Then Winchester pushed the girl out of the vehicle on Copley Road and drove away. The girl walked to her grandmother’s and went to the hospital later that morning. Winchester was identified months later when the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation matched DNA from the rape kit to DNA in the Combined Index DNA System (CODIS).

On July 2, a jury found Winchester guilty of Rape, a felony of the first degree, and Kidnapping, a felony of the first degree.