Defendant Freaks Out As Judge Hands Down Massive Sentence

Added: 2026-05-19

[00:00:00]It's credit for 143 days. Consecutive sentences are necessary to protect the public from future crime by you.

[00:00:07]And for appropriate sentence What we just saw can be fairly stated as foreshadowing. Foreshadowing to this man's sentencing hearing. You see, he is asking the judge to sentence him to just 8 years in prison for what he did to his 13-year-old stepdaughter. The DA and the defense attorney agreed to the 8-year plea deal, but the judge the judge might have some other things up his sleeve.

[00:00:42]So, this is the sentencing hearing for a monster and it's possible that you've already seen this. It's been quite popular, but what I'm going to do differently than the many other channels is that I'm going to read to you some of the notes of his jail phone calls and also some letters that he wrote to the judge at the end of this hearing. So, with that, let's jump in.

[00:01:05]Thank you, Your Honor. We are present State of Ohio versus Dennis Welton case number 25 CR 206. The defendant is in court represented by counsel. We were last here on May 14th where the defendant pled guilty to count five and count six, both being sexual battery felonies of the third degree. At that time, the court referred the defendant for a pre-sentence report and victim impact statement. Those reports have been completed and the state is prepared to proceed with sentencing.

[00:01:34]Mr. Watson.

[00:01:36]Thank you, Your Honor. May it please the court. Um I'm going to be brief. This uh This was a heinous crime. Judge, this was This was uh horrible in a lot of ways.

[00:01:54]But most importantly, because this was a minor child who almost assuredly didn't fully understand what was going on with somebody whom was entrusted to love her and to protect her.

[00:02:12]However, your honor this is not indicative of who Mr. Welp is as a person. Yes, he has a record.

[00:02:22]Yes, he has been to prison.

[00:02:24]But it's mainly in the past been for drug offenses.

[00:02:28]I believe some theft offenses.

[00:02:31]Nothing of this magnitude.

[00:02:34]On this day, and this is this is not an excuse, Judge, for his behavior. But on this day, Mr. Welp was drinking a lot. Was highly intoxicated.

[00:02:44]And took advantage of his stepdaughter.

[00:02:48]He Since the day I met him he is in disbelief that he did this.

[00:02:58]He has expressed to me his remorse and his sadness.

[00:03:05]And how he hurt her, how he hurt his wife, how he hurt the rest of his family.

[00:03:12]He knows, your honor that he's going to be spending a lot of time in jail coming up.

[00:03:19]I know there's discretion with the plea, with how much time that equates to. This court has a lot of discretion with that.

[00:03:28]Earlier in chambers the state and I presented to the court a joint recommendation for 8 years.

[00:03:35]I'm going to respectfully ask the court to consider imposing that sentence because I believe Mr. Welp is remorseful.

[00:03:45]I believe that this is not who he is as a person. And I'm hoping when his time is up and he gets out, which by the way, he's going to be reporting as a sex offender for the rest of his life, so he's going to be under a microscope, he's going to be monitored for the for the rest of his life.

[00:04:04]But, I'm hoping that he'll be able to piece things together, make amends with at least part of his family. I don't know if he can ever make full amends with everybody or not.

[00:04:15]Uh and you're going to hear from him in just a minute, Your Honor, but again, I don't think this is who he is as a person, and I'm going to respectfully ask the court to consider adopting the joint recommendation. Thank you, Your Honor. All right, before we before I hear from Mr. Welk, I'm going to read the explanation of duties to register as a sex offender and ask for him to sign it acknowledging that he was informed of of these terms.

[00:04:40]If you would present this to Mr. Welk for his acknowledgement and signature.

[00:04:54]So, this is just what the judge read to you about registering as a sex offender.

[00:04:59]You have to sign right there.

[00:05:19]May I approach the rack? Yep.

[00:05:28]Mr. Welk, do you want to tell me before he closes out?

[00:05:33]First and foremost, I'd like to apologize to the court for appearing before them today. I'd like to apologize to the victim in this case.

[00:05:40]I'm not going to use alcohol or drugs as an excuse for anything. However, alcohol was a main factor in this case.

[00:05:46]But, I take full responsibility for my actions cuz I chose to make the irresponsible decision consuming too much alcohol than I could handle causing poor regretful choices leading to my incarceration.

[00:05:55]I've heard the I've read the police reports and feel ashamed, embarrassed, and hurt cuz that's not the person I am.

[00:06:01]And I wouldn't be standing here today if I would have just been more responsible.

[00:06:04]I have four younger children that I've been that I've let down cuz of being locked away from them. Missing out on watching them grow. Having to deal with that is a heartache alone.

[00:06:14]The only thing I can do now is work on myself while incarcerated, take advantage of all programs they offer, and become a better man and a better father and not give up doing so.

[00:06:24]I have to make this my last time in jail and I plan to. I'm seriously sincerely remorseful to my victim in this case letting her down when I was supposed to be a father figure in her life.

[00:06:37]I beat myself up over this every day over this wishing I could take it all back. I just hope she can grow up in the in life and leave this in the past and that it doesn't affect her future.

[00:06:51]Again, I'm sorry to everyone I caused pain to in this case.

[00:07:20]Mr. Lashley.

[00:07:23]Thank you, your honor. One thing that the defendant said today in court and even in his pre-sentence report that stood out to me is that he was supposed to be a loving and caring father.

[00:07:34]And I couldn't agree more with that.

[00:07:36]He should have been someone that the victim could trust and rely on for protection and guidance.

[00:07:43]And instead, he used his role as a parental figure to manipulate her, exploit her, and violate her.

[00:07:51]When this happened, the victim was just 13 years old, 13 years and 8 months to be exact.

[00:07:57]Inasmuch as the defendant wants to talk about the other children in his life, when the defendant committed this offense, it was done in his home, in her home, with his other children present.

[00:08:09]Not only that, his 4-year-old Sarah and his said the 7-year-old Ben actually observed the defendant engaging in the kissing and the touching of the victim's erogenous zones.

[00:08:21]Later, when the defendant went into the victim's bedroom to engage in the sexual activity or the sexual conduct, a 1-year-old was sleeping in the Pack 'n Play next to her, and there was a 3-year-old in the room who was awake on her phone, according to the victim.

[00:08:37]And while there is a jointly recommended sentence here, the state believes it's essential to highlight not only what the defendant did pre-indictment, but also what he did after his arrest in this case.

[00:08:48]While incarcerated, he continued to communicate with the victim while in the Lake County Jail.

[00:08:53]He attempted to guilt and manipulate her by blaming her for her own suicide attempt at the Eastlake Jail.

[00:09:00]He pressured her to express her feelings to law enforcement about him or her desire to for him to only receive a short sentence.

[00:09:09]He spoke of wanting to attend counseling together. He emphasized they were a team and told her he loved her despite being her abuser, despite doing what he did here.

[00:09:22]And during several of these recorded calls, you can hear the victim crying, further illustrating just the ongoing emotional harm caused by the defendant and his conduct.

[00:09:34]This behavior demonstrates his continued disregard for the well-being of the victim, his family, and his ongoing efforts to control her and manipulate her.

[00:09:44]The defendant today in court said he's remorseful, but in the pre-sentence report, he didn't believe he did anything wrong, and he wants to take this to trial. So, I'm not sure what this court can believe.

[00:09:55]He has a lengthy criminal history, including four prior prison numbers and five felony cases. And all of this I think supports the need for a significant term of incarceration, and respectfully ask this court to impose a jointly agreed sentence of 8 years.

[00:10:09]Thank you. Thank you. Why did you call her after you were in jail?

[00:10:15]Cuz I was told by the detective I was allowed to.

[00:10:18]Okay.

[00:10:19]I didn't call her. I called my wife, and she answered the phone.

[00:10:22]All right. And what what contact did you have with her about retracting her statement or modifying her statement?

[00:10:30]>> It wasn't retracting it. It was I was talk We talked about counseling, going to counseling, and stuff, cuz that was something the dad was talking about making them do.

[00:10:37]And so, um, she said she didn't want to do.

[00:10:42]Well, that try trying to, whether directly contacting her or contacting her through your wife, was wholly inappropriate.

[00:10:57]And it was further evidence of you trying to take advantage of her at that young age, like you did when this happened.

[00:11:11]Marcia asked the detective if she could have contact with me when when this case was all started.

[00:11:19]Then when I went to my preliminary hearing on February 11th, I asked the detective, and he told me the same thing.

[00:11:28]All right. Well, you're experienced enough in the in the system to have the wisdom that you shouldn't have been contacting.

[00:11:40]And talking to her, having a about anything having to do with this case.

[00:11:46]So, you you've in your statement, you say you apologized to her.

[00:11:54]But then in the pre-sentence report, you talk about how you don't believe you did everything you're accused of doing and wanted to take this to trial. What's that all about?

[00:12:04]I don't remember what I exactly what I said, your honor, but what I was saying was I don't have regulation of what happened the night of. So, I didn't I wasn't admitting to I don't know what happened.

[00:12:22]So, so did did you or didn't you do this stuff?

[00:12:26]Yes.

[00:12:29]And I And I got to tell you it doesn't uh doesn't get much worse than than this kind of stuff.

[00:12:38]I understand.

[00:12:44]And I would note uh in the record that in uh 2009 or 2010, you were sentenced to prison on a burglary, released on judicial release, and then returned to prison after a violation of the judicial release.

[00:13:14]And you were released January 7th of '13, you went back to prison on another case on May 1st of '13 and got out of August.

[00:13:30]>> Went to uh prison on an attempted burglary uh trespass in a habitation breaking and entering June 23 of 16 through August 5 of 18.

[00:13:59]Uh a a a whole bunch of uh theft offenses >> [snorts] >> between that last prison sentence and where you are today. So, you've had a lifetime of criminal activity, but none worse than what has occurred here.

[00:14:20]I've reviewed the the presentence report and the victim impact statement.

[00:14:28]I considered what you have said, what counsel has said.

[00:14:33]And [snorts] I've al- also considered that they've made a joint recommendation of uh of 96 months in prison.

[00:14:53]So, on count uh I considered all the provisions in 292911, 292912, 13, and 14.

[00:15:01]Consideration of all that on count five, I'm going to sentence you to a term of uh 60 months.

[00:15:09]On count six, I'm going to sentence you to a term of 60 months. They will be consecutive to one another.

[00:15:17]Credit for 143 days. Consecutive sentences are necessary to protect the public from future crime by you and for appropriate punishment.

[00:16:13]All right, consecutive sentences are necessary to protect the public from future crime by the defendant and for appropriate punishment.

[00:16:20]And they are very proportionate to the seriousness of the conduct and the danger he poses to the public.

[00:16:27]And his history of criminal conduct demonstrates that consecutive sentences are necessary to protect the public from future crime by the defendant.

[00:16:36]Costs are assessed, the remaining charges are dismissed. Anything else, Miss Election?

[00:16:40]No, Your Honor. Thank you. Mr. Watson?

[00:16:44]Nothing further, Your Honor. All right, we'll adjourn.

[00:16:46]All right.

[00:16:48]That was so satisfying. I love seeing him get up and scream like a little baby. Oh, get me out of here, throwing a tantrum. 20 years sentence. 10 years, 10 years, running back-to-back. Yes, not alongside each other. How amazing. Look at this guy. I mean, he really is just a prince, isn't he? Now, we're going to do things in this case that, you know, again, like many of you may have seen the sentencing before, but you haven't seen the research that Sir Richard pulled on it. We will go over the phone calls that he had with his daughter just so it really paints the picture of what a chomo he is. And then we're going to wrap it up with the best part of it all, the letter that he wrote the honorable judge saying, "Please change your mind."

[00:17:29]>> [laughter] >> He actually wrote a letter thinking the judge would change his mind. You can't make it up. But um look, look, this is this is his long record. You see how long it is, right? Before we you know the judge spoke about different things, the burglaries, blah blah blah. He also has one that he didn't talk about which was the cruelty to animals. He hurt his golden retriever. Yes, I mean I know it's such a surprise that a monster would do that. Yes, he he did that to his golden retriever right before he did this of course to his to his um stepdaughter. Now let's go to the phone calls.

[00:18:02]The phone calls, which by the way just goes to show he has like his wife involved so she she should be in in prison with him frankly in my opinion.

[00:18:11]So on February 8th of 2025 You see that I can't highlight my mouse on it for some reason. So I hope you you know you'll have to follow along. The defendant calls the victim's mother from his pen and the victim answered the phone. The defendant and the victim apologize to one another. The defendant stated it was neither person's fault. He claimed that the incident happened due to alcohol and stated that if he could take it back he would. We've never heard that line before. If I could take it back I would. The victim can be overheard crying and apologizing. As you can see he's manipulating her with her mother I assume um for reporting the offense. The defendant tells the victim he is looking at life in prison. I'm looking at life in prison and I need these charges to be reduced. Attempting to manipulate her. The defendant proceeds to tell the victim that he attempted to unalive himself at the jail. On February 9th, 2025 at 20:30 hours the defendant called the victim's mother from his pen and the victim answered. I wonder how is it possible that the victim keeps answering? Wow, what a coincidence. The defendant asked the victim to express her feelings about having him only serve a short short sentence. He then told the victim he hoped she would never turn him back turn her back on him and apologize again blaming alcohol for the incident.

[00:19:32]Really, this needs to be investigated.

[00:19:34]CPS needs to be called. This mother needs to be thrown in jail, you know? There needs to be an investigation. It's disgusting. On February 19th, 2025 at 21:38 hours, the defendant called the victim's mother from his PIN. The victim's mother answered and later gave the phone to the victim. Okay, here's the proof that you need. No more coincidences. He's doing it. She's doing it. The defendant told the victim that she was the reason he attempted to unalive himself in the East Lake Jail. The defendant mentioned he felt guilty and the victim could be heard crying as the call ended. Can you imagine? She's SA'd and then she's the one who's being blamed. It's unimaginable.

[00:20:12]I wish the judge would have given more than 20 years.

[00:20:18]It's unreal.

[00:20:20]Um on February 19th, 2025 hours, the defendant called the victim's mother using another inmate's PIN. The victim's mother answered and midway through the call the defendant asked to speak with the victim. The defendant questioned her about the controlled call and instructed her on what to say to the detective during her next interview. The defendant told the victim he needed to establish that he did not force the victim to do anything and asked her to take some of it off him implying she should stay say that the acts were consensual and he did not force her.

[00:20:52]The defendant also asked if the victim would be willing to attend counseling with him.

[00:20:56]What an SOB. On March 31st, 2025 at 13:37 the defendant called the victim's mother using another inmate's PIN and the victim answered. The defendant asked the victim what she testified to in the previous hearing. The victim discussed her testimony with the defendant later at 13:55 hours. He called again and the victim answered. He told her he is looking at a lot of time, again attempting to manipulate her and make her feel bad. The victim again discussed her previous testimony. You know, I felt the DA did a good job, but I felt the DA could have emphasized just how bad it was, right? I don't know if I got that.

[00:21:28]Like how many times he called, how much he you know, the defendant stated that he would have been home tomorrow had she not testified and asked. "You ain't going to let them give me a whole bunch of time, right?" He urged her not to give him not to give up on him and spoke about being a team. Ending the call by telling her he loved her. What a sick mother effort.

[00:21:53]Wherefore, the state respectfully requests that the court enter an order revoking the defendant's phone messaging privileges while in custody in Lake County Jail and further deem necessary.

[00:22:00]Good job on the jails for catching these calls. Good job on you.

[00:22:05]You know?

[00:22:06]What a What a What a just sick sick sick thing. So now, let's go look at this letter, the motion to appeal. Let's look at this. This is funny. All right, my bad. I misunderstood Sir Richard's notes. It's not a letter that he writes the judge after this case. It's a letter that he writes the judge after his 20 20 case. So, I'll read it to you because it's actually really scary. He's pleading with the judge to let him out so he can be a stepfather to his children because he got recently married and it's really scary. It's foreshadowing, of course, and it's just you know, it's pretty nuts. And also, by the way, what did you think of the cartoon characters I have there? I thought that was really funny. Sir Richard gave me the idea. So, if you think I'll continue doing it. We keep covering these cases. We've got the TV screen. This wife is nodding. Wow.

[00:22:58]>> [laughter] >> Anyways, on February 20th, 2020, I appear before you on case number blah blah blah for identity theft, a felony of the fifth degree.

[00:23:09]He is He has decent handwriting, better than mine. I was sentenced a total term of 1 year and two counts to be served concurrent to each other with the credit for 91 days jail time served. No more concurrence and this is Mr. Roach. Since being incarcerated, I've taken the time to work on bettering myself. Due to the conditions with COVID-19, remember that?

[00:23:31]Going on, all my programs have been shut down. However, this time has not been wasted. I have been focusing on my behavior and really studying the book of AA in order to work on my addiction and past narcotics use. I have also taken time to use new coping skills to better my attitude. I am more clear-minded, more focused, and more dedicated to being a different person. I recently got married.

[00:23:59]This is the scary part.

[00:24:01]Um, before coming to jail, and my beautiful wife, whom is my biggest supporter, and I frankly think should be supporting you within the jail cell herself.

[00:24:11]Um, I have also taken a role as a stepfather to five wonderful children, as well as in the process of adopting my wife's 2-year-old son.

[00:24:20]I'm currently expecting my first child any day now. She's got six kids. Wow, what a peach. My charges stem back to before I became part of the family when I was struggling bad. And by the way, I'm one of the I have nothing against big families. So, Richard's like one of 11 or something.

[00:24:37]Um, it's just that if you if you can't take care of them, you're going to put these monsters in their lives, then no, you should stop. However, my focus is my family. I am supported by my mother-in-law, as well. Your honor, I need my family as much as they need me.

[00:24:55]How sick is this when you know what he then did when he got out. When released, I do a follow-up plan. I will attend meetings in order to keep my focus on sobriety as well as an assessment with Lake so whatever. The the whatever aftercare I mean a need of. I will obtain employment shortly after release to financially support my family. I will follow all rules of supervision given and submit random narcotic screens as directed. I will not have any future contact with law enforcement or courts.

[00:25:23]Your honor, I'm not the animal I once was. This could be the title for the hearing, right? I am not the animal I once was.

[00:25:33]Says the man who harmed a golden retriever. I have again grown into a mature man and will be the father, husband, citizen that is expected of myself. Please grant me this request to start my life as a family man. What a disgusting POS to even use the words family man. Of course, he didn't know well we didn't know. I'm sure he didn't know that he would do something like this. I think they always know. I think they marry into these families for um access. Now maybe he's not, you know, maybe he just, you know, took advantage of the fact. There are different types of chomos, those who are obsessed with little ones and those who just, you know, if it's, you know, if they can do it, they'll do it. Who knows what he is, but um he's probably just he's uh who knows, but this is his crimes, right?

[00:26:24]2009 burglary 12 15 09 burglary 3 years, right? So he gets all of this is 3 years prison da da da.

[00:26:33]It seemed he gotten off of it and then it was re-imposed. He has 2013 telecommunication harassment so it was probably, you know, like calling people and threatening them. Aggravated menacing, breaking yes, he is the same thing. Um breaking and entering, safe cracking, trespassing, petty theft, burglary, identity, cruelty to animals.

[00:26:53]This was after he had just gotten out when he said, "I'm not an animal." So, yeah.

[00:26:59]And then he gets this and this. And he had another letter, Sir Richard, uh found, but I I didn't read it to you.

[00:27:06]Um I mean, let me know in the comment section if you wish I would have read it to you. It was basically the same thing.

[00:27:10]It was a letter before he wrote this one, also promising he wouldn't do anything wrong. And how crazy it is to think that you're going to write a letter and the judge is going to say, "Oh, yes. You're such a baby angel, Aladdin, and I'm going to let you out now."

[00:27:24]>> [laughter] >> Delusional. I wonder how many letters he's going to write to the judge this time.

[00:27:29]Anyways, if you want me to cover more of these hearings, you need to let me know.

[00:27:33]I've been covering them a lot, um but they're not getting a lot of views. So, I don't know. Maybe you guys don't want to see it. If you don't, then I'll I'll stop I don't know. I'll just go back to other things. Um so, you really have to let me know. And the best way to let me know is by helping the algorithm because that's the best way to communicate. So, do your thing. And yeah, I'll talk to you later.