Jury finds Manning Tarver guilty of rape

Posted on 8/7/2023

Defendant: Manning Tarver

The Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office secured a guilty verdict on Aug. 3 in the rape case against Manning Tarver, 43.

The jury found Mr. Tarver guilty on two counts of rape, a felony of the first degree. His sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 21, and he faces up to 11 years in prison for each count. He will have to register as a Tier III sex offender for the rest of his life.

In the early morning of Oct. 1, 2021, Mr. Tarver was at the X Gentlemen’s Club in Columbus. He asked the victim, a new dancer at the establishment, for a private dance in the VIP Room. Once they were in the room, Mr. Tarver told the dancer that he had paid a security guard to have sex with her and that she could not refuse. She tried to leave, but he restrained and raped her. The victim almost immediately went to OSU Wexner Medical Center East Hospital for a sexual assault examination.

Mr. Tarver was arrested on April 21, 2022, and released on bond the next day. He was taken back into custody Aug. 3 after Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge Bill Sperlazza revoked his bond after the guilty verdict.

Daniel Meyer, director of the Special Victims Unit, prosecuted the case for the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office.