Jimmy Dinsmore

I said I'd publish everything I got from Mahoning County on the 1978 Acton case, whatever it showed. I now have the first set of documents produced by the Clerk of Court in Mahoning County. How I got it: Wednesday, the Clerk of Courts refused to let me inspect the file. Written refusal, no statute cited, on video. Today, the same office released it "in response to numerous requests," after sending it to the county prosecutor for redactions. The cover letter still doesn't cite a single exemption for anything they blacked out. What the record supports: Cledith Arthur was arrested July 14, 1978, jailed, charged with rape of a child under 13, and pleaded not guilty. A Mahoning County grand jury indicted him Oct. 5, 1978. That's all in the file. The complaint was sworn by her biological father, Gerald Stearns, on July 13, 1978. Arthur had a prior: a 1974 arrest in Trumbull County, juvenile court case, released on bond. He fled. The judge found on Oct. 26, 1978 that he "willfully vacated his last known address." Warrants issued in 1978 and 1981. What the record does not support: The tent. Both sworn charging documents put the abuse at 3625½ Mahoning Ave., Austintown, an apartment over a storefront, from December 1976 through April 1978. That covers the winter Acton says she spent in a tent at age 12. The campground on Route 7 appears in the file only as his address when he was arrested that July. Nothing in the file puts the children at the campground, and nothing puts anyone in a tent. The mother, Donna Arthur, being arrested. On WOSU Tuesday, Amy Acton said her mother was arrested in this case: "She was arrested. He was arrested, and they were released on bond and crossed state lines." Donna Arthur's name does not appear anywhere in the 38 pages. Not as a defendant, not as a witness. If she was charged it would be a separate case number, and I'll be requesting the clerk to search the 1978 index for it. As of today there is no record. The "sworn statement." National Review reported "a sworn statement from Acton's biological father." It's a one-page pre-printed complaint form with the statute typed in. No narrative. No description of anything. "Fled to avoid testifying before a grand jury." That's how the campaign's packet got written up. The file shows the opposite: he waived immunity and testified before the grand jury on Sept. 28, 1978, for 16 transcribed pages. He left after he was indicted anyway. A 1987 warrant, as reported by the Dispatch. There isn't one. The last entry is 1983. What nobody has reported: The search for a man under indictment for raping a child consisted of three warrants mailed to one neighboring county's sheriff over five years. A deputy checked the campground once, in 1982. In June 1983 the sheriff returned it "Bad Address, Not Found." That's the last line. HOWEVER––Thirteen years later, in 1996, Cledith Lee Arthur was arrested twice in Pennsylvania under his real name and real birthdate, fingerprinted, jailed, pleaded guilty, and put on state parole. No Ohio hold ever attached. He died in 2004 without Ohio ever coming for him. The campaign calls him a fugitive. The record shows nobody was looking. What's missing from the file: No appearance docket. No bond forfeiture, even though he skipped. No prosecutor's motion for the warrant the judge says he ruled on. No order recalling the 1978 warrant, even though it's marked "recalled." A second County Court case number on his waiver form, 10956, struck through and never explained. The victim's address, the complainant's address and signature, and the grand jury witness list are all blacked out with no legal authority cited. My attorney is demanding the unredacted file and all supporting documents. The full file, along with the PA Docket file for Arthur, is provided below for anyone to view. When I receive the rest of the files I will provide them as well.