Charles Leichty

Sonya Sue Long's Story

UPDATE: Child killer/ molester Charles Leichty died in prison on March 31, 2016. Thank you to everyone who submitted a petition to keep Leichty in prison for his full life sentence. Justice has been served.

A Night out With Friends Goes Horribly Wrong

15-year-old Sonya Sue Long left her home at 6:30 PM on Saturday, May 18, 1958, to meet up with her friends. When Sonya, a sophomore at Scott High School, did not return home later that evening, her parents became alarmed and called police. The next morning, police found Sonya’s body at a lonely spot next to a pond. She was naked, had been raped, had a deep cut on her left temple and had her yellow blouse tied tightly around her neck.

Police had no leads until they received a call from Donald Rockwood. Rockwood informed police that his nephew, 31-year-old Charles Leichty, told him that he had awakened in the back of his car at 1:30 a.m. and found Sonya’s naked body beside him. Police arrested Leichty at his uncle’s house and charged him with the rape and murder of Sonya Sue Long.

After his arrest, Leichty told officers that, after he awoke in the car, he panicked and pushed Sonya’s battered body out of the car. He told officers, “There was something tied around her neck.” When police drove Leichty to the crime scene, he stated, “That’s her over there. But someone has put a blanket over her.” Leichty claimed he blacked out and could not remember any other details. Police learned Leichty’s criminal record dated back to 1941. In 1944, at the age of 17, Leichty had been convicted of rape and was sentenced from one to three years in prison.

Leichty went to trial, and prosecutors asked the jury to impose the death penalty. Leichty offered absolutely no defense. His attorneys told the jury he had given himself up and cooperated with police, so his life should be spared. Unbelievably, the jury could not determine if Leichty actually premeditated the murder, so they convicted him of second degree murder, which spared him from the death penalty. Leichty was also convicted of murder while committing a rape. He was sentenced to life in prison.

A Horrible Rehabilitation Record

Although he had served only 12 1/2 years of his life sentence, Leichty was paroled on June 3, 1971. Four months later, he was charged with an assault on a minor and was brought back to prison. Leichty was acquitted of the charges and was re-paroled.

A year later, Leichty picked up a 17-year-old girl and her 15-year-old friend. Once in the car, Leichty attacked the 17-year-old girl. The girls fought with Leichty and managed to escape. Leichty pled guilty to molesting the girl and was sent back to prison.

Although Leichty had now been convicted of murder and three sexual assaults, The Ohio Parole Board decided to parole him again in 1983 after serving only 10 years. This time, while on parole, he molested three young girls, ages 7, 9 & 9. Leichty’s parole was revoked a third time.

In 1996, after he had served an additional 22 years, Leighty was again granted parole by The Ohio Parole Board. The board cited his age and significant medical issues, including being an amputee. Since Leichty had no support at all, the parole board dumped him in a nursing home. Three years later, nursing home staff caught Leichty, who was now 81 years old, with his hand down the pants of a non-responsive female patient who could not defend herself. Leichty was arrested and charged with this behavior, and brought back to prison on a parole violation for a fourth time.

No Parole

Charles Leichty is Ohio’s longest-serving inmate, with a criminal record dating back to 1941. Although he had been convicted of rape at the age of 17 and later convicted of abducting, raping and murdering 15-year-old Sonya Sue Long, The Ohio Parole Board chose to parole Leichty four times with catastrophic consequences. Every time he has been released, Leichty has sexually assaulted vulnerable victims, including three young girls under age 10. Releasing Charles Leichty at any point would be a complete injustice to his multiple victims and would pose a tremendous risk to the community, especially children. Based on the horrific facts of his multiple crimes and his complete failure to correct his behavior the four times he was paroled, we believe Charles Leichty should be required to serve his full life sentence and remain in prison until the day he dies. To further the interests of justice and to protect society, we urge the Ohio Parole Board to give Leichty the maximum continuance of 10 years until his next parole hearing.