11-month sentence in sex case

A Tiffin man was sentenced to prison for crimes involving a teenage girl Tuesday. Robert W. Cook, 31, had pleaded guilty to charges of importuning, a fifth-degree felony, and sexual imposition, a third-degree misdemeanor, in December. During a hearing Tuesday, Seneca County Common Pleas Court Judge Steve Shuff sentenced Cook to 11 months in prison, with credit for two days served, and classified Cook as a Tier I sex offender. Angela Boes, assistant Seneca County prosecutor, said Cook solicited a neighbor girl, who was 15 years old at the time, to have sexual conduct. Boes asked Shuff to sentence Cook to three years of community control and 90 days in Seneca County Jail, with credit for two days served. The victim's father addressed Shuff before Cook's sentencing. He said the situation had been difficult and turned his family upside down, and a great deal of trust between neighbors had been broken. He requested a longer jail sentence than what Boes requested. Gene Murray, Cook's attorney, said Cook is married and has a 1-year-old child. Cook was remorseful, and he was honest in an interview with law enforcement, Murray said. "He voluntarily cooperated with law enforcement," he said. Murray said it was an isolated incident, and Cook is not a danger to the community. "He is willing to abide by the conditions of community control. He has family support here," he said. Cook apologized for what he had done and also apologized to the victim's family.