A former Valencia man was sentenced Thursday, Dec. 4, in Butler County Common Pleas Court to serve up to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to raping and threatening a teenage girl in 2023.

Eric S. Ellis II, 27, who has been held in the Butler County Prison in lieu of bail since his June 2023 arrest, but is a resident of Troy. Mo., according to court records, was sentenced to serve 66 months to 144 months in state prison after pleading guilty to three of the 13 charges Middlesex Township police filed against him for sexually assaulting two girls, who were 12 and 13 years old at the time.

Judge Joseph Kubit sentenced Ellis to concurrently serve 72 months to 144 months for a felony charge of rape of a child, 66 months to 132 months for a felony charge of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and 36 months of probation for a misdemeanor charge of terroristic threats.

The sentence also included $500 in fines and a mandatory 36 months of probation after his parole from prison. Kubit ordered Ellis to have no contact with the victims and gave him credit for the time he has served in jail.

One of the victims attended the sentencing hearing, but did not speak.

On June 1, 2023, police charged Ellis with three counts of rape, three counts of indecent assault, two counts of corruption of minors, two counts of terroristic threats and three counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. He was placed in the county jail in lieu of $250,000 bond, which was reduced to $200,000 later that month.

According to an affidavit, police received reports on May 20, 2023, of multiple incidents of sexual assault occurring in February and March of that year, involving Ellis and the two girls.

Ellis took the girls hunting in March and allegedly had sex with the 12-year-old girl two times. He then had the 13-year-old girl perform sexual acts on him, according to the affidavit.

Ellis threatened to kill both girls and their families if they reported the incidents, and said he would deny they ever happened, according to the affidavit.

In an earlier incident on Feb. 24, police said Ellis exposed himself to the girls while in a Middlesex Township home. Ellis also asked the girls to touch him inappropriately and for the 12-year-old girl to perform sexual acts on him, according to the affidavit.

Later on Feb. 24, police said Ellis took the girls hunting. Ellis had the 12-year-old girl perform sexual acts on him while in a hunting blind, and police said he again threatened to kill both girls if they reported the incident.

On May 30, Ellis contacted police and said he wanted to confess. He went to the police station the next day and admitted to some sexual acts with both girls.