Robert Bores’ sentencing followed a plea agreement, an attempted plea withdrawal and more than two years of court proceedings.
SANDUSKY, Ohio — More than two years after his arrest, Robert Bores was sentenced to six years in prison Thursday, bringing a lengthy Erie County domestic violence case to a close after he unsuccessfully tried to withdraw the guilty pleas that exposed him to the maximum term.
Erie County Common Pleas Court Judge Roger Binette sentenced Bores on Nov. 12 on two felony domestic violence counts. The convictions stemmed from a case in which authorities said Bores used an electric cattle prod as a form of punishment on children in his household. The six-year term was the maximum available sentence on the charges to which he pleaded guilty.
The case began in March 2024, when a report to Children Services led Erie County sheriff’s detectives to a Florence Township residence. Authorities said investigators recovered a cattle prod from the home. Sheriff Paul Sigsworth said during the early stages of the investigation that Bores had acknowledged using the device as a disciplinary tool.
A grand jury later indicted Bores on three counts of domestic violence and three counts of endangering children. The allegations remained pending for more than a year before Bores reached a plea agreement with prosecutors in September 2025.
Under that agreement, Bores pleaded guilty to two felony domestic violence counts. Prosecutors dismissed the remaining domestic violence count and all three child endangering counts. He then faced up to six years in prison and was initially scheduled to be sentenced in December 2025.
That proceeding did not go forward as planned. Bores moved to withdraw his guilty plea, delaying sentencing and setting off another round of court proceedings. His request was still being litigated months later, and a spring 2026 hearing was continued while related appellate issues were addressed.
By October, the court had rejected Bores’ effort to take back his plea. Binette concluded there was no sufficient basis to undo the agreement, allowing the case to proceed to sentencing. The ruling meant the two felony convictions remained in place and Bores continued to face the full six-year maximum.
At Thursday’s sentencing hearing, the focus shifted from the procedural fight to the impact on the children. Binette referred to victim statements describing fear and anxiety and accounts of the cattle prod being used on children or used to frighten them. The court also considered Bores’ previous criminal record and history involving domestic violence.
Defense attorney Brent English argued that Bores had not intended to physically harm the children and portrayed the conduct as discipline that crossed a serious line rather than an effort to maliciously injure them. Prosecutors disputed that characterization, emphasizing that a cattle prod is an instrument designed to control large animals.
Bores asked the court for another opportunity and said he wanted to remain a father to his children. The judge, however, said the court had to weigh Bores’ conduct and history along with what was said at the sentencing hearing. Binette concluded that the maximum sentence was appropriate.
The six-year term resolves the central Erie County criminal case after a sequence that included the 2024 arrest, grand jury charges, the 2025 plea agreement, the unsuccessful effort to withdraw that plea and Thursday’s final sentencing. Bores was taken into custody following the hearing.
Author note: Last updated November 13, 2026.