CLEVELAND — A 20-year-old man who tried to abduct two women last year in the Cleveland Metroparks has been sentenced to more than a decade in prison.
The defendant, Shane Barker, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on attempted kidnapping charges. He was awarded 282 days credit for time served.
Both of Barker’s victims, whose identities are anonymous, were visibly shaken in the courtroom Thursday morning.
“I will not go to a store alone at night anymore and I seldom go out by myself anywhere,” one victim said.
Barker was arrested in February by the U.S. Marshals Service after he assaulted a 61-year-old woman on a hiking trail at the Brookside Reservation on Oct. 20, 2019. A Cleveland Metroparks police report states that Barker approached the woman, grabbed her by the hair and told her, "do what I say if you want to get home safe."
“I remember the terror I felt when he grabbed me by the hair and threatened me by saying to do what he says if I want to get home,” the victim said during her victim impact statement.
Authorities say that a few days later, Barker attacked a 41-year-old woman in the same area. According to a Cleveland Metroparks police report, Barker tried to grab the woman and drag her into the woods, but she overpowered him, and he ran off.
“I went from being able to leave my home alone and doing my daily tasks alone to now needing to always be with someone because of the constant fear,” the woman said as she recounted the attack to the courtroom.
Assistant prosecuting attorney Greg Paul sought the maximum sentence and called Barker’s actions unforgivable.
“I don’t know if they’ll ever get over what happened,” Paul said. “Their lives have been upended because of what happened.”
Barker, who pleaded guilty to the two counts of felony attempted kidnapping, said he was under the influence of drugs at the time of the October 2019 attacks.
“I really wasn’t myself at the time and I really am sorry. I didn’t mean to do what I did,” Barker said.
His mother, Stacy Barker, asked the judge to help her son seek rehabilitation while serving time behind bars.
“When all of this happened, he wasn’t in his right mind state,” Barker said. “That’s not an excuse for anything.”
Barker will serve out his sentence at the Lorain Correctional Institution. Upon his release, he will be placed on post-release control for three years.
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