Celina man learns sentence for multiple child rapes

CELINA - A 41-year-old Celina man was sentenced to over 40 years in prison Friday in Mercer County Common Pleas Court after admitting to forcibly raping three girls aged 3-8 on seven occasions from 2012 to 2014.

Visiting judge Jeffrey Ingraham sentenced Joshua R. Mullins to 42 years in prison with 123 days credit on seven counts of first-degree felony rape. The imposed sentence was comprised of six-year, consecutive terms on each charge.

Mullins was initially indicted on Dec. 23, 2025 on eight counts of rape, a first-degree felony.

He was arrested on Dec. 9, 2025, on a criminal complaint that included three counts of first-degree felony rape. The charges were amended by a Mercer County grand jury during a preliminary hearing a couple of weeks later.

He retained attorney Christopher Bucio, of Urbana, and later waived prosecution by indictment and entered a negotiated plea agreement to the bill of information on March 2.

His original indictment alleged that from Jan. 1, 2012, to Dec. 31, 2014, Mullins engaged in sexual conduct with an unidentified child, four times from ages 4-7; a second unidentified victim twice from ages 3-6; and a third unidentified child twice from ages 5-8.

Ingraham heard arguments from the defense, prosecution and two of Mullins' victims before issuing the sentence. A written impact statement from the third victim was submitted to the court for consideration prior to the hearing.

Bucio began his statement by acknowledging the difficulty of the case, and telling Mullins' victims and their families that he prays for them.

"I pray that with this chapter ended … there can be some moving forward," he said.

After reading the probation department's pre-sentence investigation (PSI) on Mullins, Bucio said the one thing that stood out to him was his client's honesty.

"(He) took full responsibility for his criminal misconduct. He made no excuses, and I believe that he is super sorrowful for what he did," he said. "Not because he got caught, but for what he put everyone through. I believe his sorrow rang true in the PSI in this case."

As well, Bucio said Mullins' upbringing influenced his behavior.

"Oftentimes when somebody is an abuser, a lot of times they were abused themselves, and that was absolutely the situation in this case with my client. Again, this is not an excuse, this is just (to provide) some understanding," Bucio said. "He was a young boy at one time, and he saw things he shouldn't have saw, things were done to him that shouldn't have been done. Unfortunately, he didn't get the help he needed."

He continued that the "whole pity in this case" was that Mullins' had intended to protect the children in his life from the same abuse he suffered, only for him to do "exactly the opposite."

"Really, the only silver lining, I believe, is that the abuse ended when it did - it ended a long time ago. Too many times, when I've been on cases, the abuse continues until the very end," Bucio said. "But in this case, it ended well over a decade ago, well, 12 years ago. There's no signs of any other maltreatment or abuse (in the time since). That doesn't erase what happened, it doesn't erase the terrible things that happened to the victims. But I do think that (that) is a difference in what we see with a lot of cases."

He concluded by asking Ingraham to consider imposing the minimum recommended sentence.

Following his attorney's statement, Ingraham gave Mullins an opportunity to speak on his behalf, to which he said, "Sorry."

Assistant county prosecutor Peter Galyardt then reiterated the state's request of a 42-year sentence, which he outlined in his sentencing memorandum filed March 30.

"These rapes qualify as the worst form of the offense," Galyardt said. "And that's due to the incredibly young age of the victims, making them some of society's most vulnerable. … Rape is a life sentence and with the victims in this case being so young when they were raped, they will serve the sentence for all their life basically."

The mother of the three victims then addressed Ingraham, and told him that the only remorse Mullins has shown is that "his secret was let out and he lost control."

"This will forever affect my trust in people," she said.

Through tears, two of his three victims also spoke, and relayed to Ingraham the abuse they endured from Mullins; and the shame, trauma and fear they still experience due to his actions.

Mullins was remanded into the custody of the Mercer County Sheriff's Office following the hearing, where he will remain until he's transferred to an Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections facility.

Bucio indicated just before the end of the hearing that the defense would consider appealing Ingraham's sentence, which they are allowed to do within 30 days of its issuance.