A Cuyahoga Falls man will spend the rest of his life prison after pleading guilty Monday to the rape of a young girl.

Summit County Prosecutors say 25-year old Richard Frederick, Jr withdrew his trial request and pleaded guilty to one count each of gross sexual imposition and rape.

Frederick repeatedly raped a five-year-old female between January and May of this year.

Judge Mary Margaret Rowlands handed Frederick  a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

He will be eligible for parole in 2037.
 

A fatal traffic accident on Arlington Road in Green this afternoon has claimed the life of a Canal Fulton woman.

The crash has forced the northbound lanes of Arlington Road at Arlington Ridge to close until about 7p.m. tonight with limited travel permitted.

A release from the Summit County Sheriff's Department says the  33-year-old woman,  driving a Toyota Matrix had crashed into the back end of a van that was stopped in the northbound lanes. 

She died shortly after being transported to the hospital . Her identity has not yet been released. The woman's passenger and the driver of the van were also hospitalized.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Akron Police are looking for a pair of suspects who allegedly robbed five men at gunpoint Thursday night.

The incident occurred around 9:30pm last night on Sumner Street.

Five men were playing video games in the house when two other men came over, possibly to play video games with them.

 Once inside, one suspect held the victims at gunpoint, while the second suspect took the victim’s property. Two victims were struck in the head during the robbery according to Akron Police.

The alleged thieves took off with  $900, a television, laptop computers, and wallets.

Akron Police describe the suspects as two black males, 20 – 25 years old. The first suspect is 6”0, 150 lbs. The second suspect is 5’10”, 180 lbs.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Akron Police Department.
 

A federal judge asks one of the defendants in the Route 82 bridge bomb lot case if he should step aside because of bias.

WKYC-Channel 3 News reports Judge David Dowd asked the attorney for 35-year old Anthony Hayne to discuss the issue with his client before Friday's sentencing at the Federal Courthouse in Akron.

The issue stems from comments the judge made to the Cleveland Plain Dealer that were favorable to three co-defendants sentenced one week ago.

Hayne is hoping his plea deal gives him half of the eight- to 11-year sentences his co-defendants got, instead of the longer terms sought by the government. Dowd called the longer recommendations grotesque.

On Thursday, 21-year-old Berea native Connor Stevens was the last of the three to appeal his sentence as being too harsh.
 

On the Web www.wkyc.com

A Canton man will be spending more than a decade behind bars for molesting a young female relative.

Summit County Prosecutors say 55-year old Larry Johnson was sentenced  to 17 years in prison for molesting a young female relative between the ages of 11 and 13.

Johnson's prison sentence includes one year in prison for a community control violation.

He pleaded guilty to Rape, a felony of the first degree, and Gross Sexual Imposition, a felony of the third degree, on October 29.
 

An Orlando Avenue man reported he was the victim of a home invasion robbery Sunday evening.

Around 10:00pm, the suspects entered the house through a rear window and confronted the individuals in the living room.

The suspects allegedly forced the victims down on the floor then robbed them of their cell phones. The suspects then took off northbound from the home.

Responding officers located the cell phones on the sidewalk several houses away. The phones were returned to the victims.

Descriptions are vague from Akron Police, saying the suspects were three black males in all dark clothing.

As the investigation of former Jackson High School freshman basketball coach Scott Studer continues, the number of alleged victims continues to grow.

Jackson Township Police Chief Dave Zink says there are ten additional victims have been identified in the alleged videos and photographs taken by the coach.

"There's been a total of 74 student-athletes identified," Zink says.

The 46-year old Studer is accused of videotaping players in the shower, then saving them to a laptop, a flash drive, and a DVD before taking the camera back to the locker room.

Zink says the process of reaching out to parents of the boys has been an arduous task for many reasons.

"It takes some time to go through these videos and call the parents of these victims."

Studer is facing eight felony counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented materials.

He resigned from the school earlier this month after the allegations surfaced.

Norton Police have two individuals in custody who are believed to be involved in a violent robbery of an Internet cafe in late October.

NewsChannel 5 reports two arrests were made Monday in connection with the case and an arrest warrant was issued for a third suspect.

The robbery happened at the Copper Mine Internet Cafe on Barber Road in Norton October 28.

Police say a TV station viewer helped them identify the woman captured in the surveillance video as 19-year-old Jelicia Wilder of Akron. She told investigators the masked robber who pistol-whipped the female clerk in the violent takeover was was 19-year-old Emear Gibson of Toledo.

Wilder turned herself in to police Sunday night while Gibson was arrested at his mother's house last Friday. Wilder will have a video arraignment Monday afternoon. Norton Police say a warrant was issued for the third suspect in the case , 22-year-old Brandon Scurry of Akron.

The trio are facing aggravated robbery charges for the October incident. They have not been charged in connection with another robbery at the business on Sept 30, but said that Gibson is a suspect in that case.

On the Web www.newsnet5.com

As usual, there will be numerous shoppers hitting the stores this weekend, but the Green Chamber of Commerce here locally is encouraging people to support local shops and entrepreneurs . on Small Business Saturday.

Lori Howerton, CEO of the Green Chamber of Commerce says supporting local businesses keeps a community vibrant and thriving.

"When people keep their dollars in their local community it's as simple as the dollars are deposited into a local bank," Howerton said.

"We know that every 45 cents of every dollar spent stays in that local community."

American Express launched Small Business Saturday in 2010 to counter the excitement over both Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Howerton says on Small Business Saturday consumers should think about the positive return it has on their community when purchasing Christmas gifts this holiday season.

"It makes sense, and buyers should think big picture when it comes to not only their Christmas gifts, but all year round."

Among the other benefits of supporting local business according to Howerton include providing jobs and supporting local non-profit groups.

"When you as a non-profit ask for donations it's much easier to get a donation from your local restaurant as opposed to Target," she says.

"You have to fill out paperwork, you have to talk to the national office, but with a local restaurant or another business, they'll have no problem sponsoring your Little League team or a Cub Scout troop if you talk to the owner."