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Derrick Fischer receives life sentence for 2010 rape in Barberton

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Derrick Fischer receives life sentence for 2010 rape in Barberton

An Akron man has been sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years for a 2010 rape case in Barberton, Summit County District Attorney Elliot Kolkovich announced Friday.

Derrick Fischer was found guilty in April of two counts of rape for beating, strangling and raping a woman at a party 14 years ago, reports Beacon Journal partner News 5 Cleveland. Fischer was also convicted of another rape in Akron more than 30 years ago.

Fisher was prosecuted as part of the Akron Police Department’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI).

The victim was sexually assaulted in 2010, but investigators did not have a suspect at the time. Evidence in the case was re-examined in 2017, with a DNA profile linking Fischer to the crime.

Before sentencing, Fischer was found guilty of being a sexually violent sex offender, a charge that allowed Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Alison McCarty to increase the sentence on each count.

“Derrick Fischer is a dangerous man with a violent past. My office will fight to keep him in prison for the rest of his life. Thank you to local law enforcement, assistant district attorneys and the survivor for their unwavering determination and tireless pursuit of justice in this case,” Kolkovich said in a press release.

McCarty also classified Fischer as a Tier III sex offender. With this classification, Fischer will have to register every 90 days for the rest of his life if he is ever released from prison. He will be eligible for parole after serving 20 years of his sentence.

What is SAKI?

In 2018, the Akron Police Department received a three-year, $1 million grant from the Department of Justice to establish the Akron Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Unit.

SAKI reviews unsolved rape cases that are less than 20 years old and in which DNA was collected without charges being filed against the suspect.

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