ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The trial of Terrance Jarrells ended before it began Tuesday.

Shortly after the jury was selected Jarrells, who was accused of two counts of first-degree felony rape of a child, instead pleaded guilty to lesser charges of felonious assault and sexual battery, both second-degree felonies.

Belmont County Common Pleas Judge John Vavra imposed the agreed-upon sentence of 15-19 years in prison. Jarrells, 48, of 60565 West Pipe Creek Road, Jacobsburg was designated a Tier 3 sex offender and when released will be required to notify the local sheriff’s office of his county of residence for life.

Assistant Prosecutor Chris Gagin said charges stemmed from allegations Jarrells preyed on a child using a position of trust. He said the crimes occurred in a trailer in Jacobsburg and an apartment in Bellaire over the course of several years, beginning in 2018.

“It was reported in March. The little girl made a disclosure to a friend, who got her teacher involved. The teacher then reported it to Children’s Services, who brought the sheriff’s department in. They were able to get a search warrant and got a forensic team into the Jacobsburg residence and were able to collect DNA,” Gagin said. “We were able to corroborate her story due to the quick action of Detective (Ron) Miro and the Belmont County Sheriff’s Department.”

Ultimately, Gagin said the prosecutor’s office considered the best interest of the victim when deciding to take the plea agreement.

“We had a very strong case. We thought the victim in this case would have done well on the stand, and we had some DNA evidence, but the victim is 10 and her mother was very concerned about her testifying, and there are times when you have to give more weight to the health of the victim and what testifying would do, and that’s why the agreement was reached today,” he said.

He added the victim will be an adult by the time Jarrells is eligible for release.

“She gets to grow up without any more fear of him,” Gagin said.

“He was looking at the possibility of two life sentences for the charges in the indictment. Both of those charges were reduced to second-degree felonies, so rather than face the possibility of a life sentence or two life sentences, he chose to take a flat sentence,” Assistant Public Defender Aaron Miller said. “That was completely his decision. … Almost every criminal trial is (a matter of risk-assessment) and ultimately it ends up being the decision of the client to weigh the risk versus the benefit, and he thought it was more beneficial and less risky to enter the plea.”

Gagin said the prosecutor’s office will continue to aggressively pursue cases of this nature, particularly ones with child victims.

He noted there have been three child rape trials in the last several months. He pointed out the guilty verdicts against Michael Runnion, Charles Olman and, most recently, Greg Carter, who will be sentenced Thursday.

“They’re very difficult, and the office has won all of them,” Gagin said, adding others have entered guilty pleas. “We have been getting very good results taking these child rape cases to trial.

“We think more and more people are willing to come forward and talk about what’s happened to them, so they’re getting reported more,” Gagin said. “They’re being taken as seriously as they should be taken, and our investigators here in Belmont County are very good at following these cases to the point where we can present them to a grand jury and then finally take them to trial.”