A former police officer and former dog warden will spend nine years in prison for his rape conviction.

Christopher Luke Prince, 27, of 1811 Echo Drive, was sentenced Tuesday in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court. Judge Frank McCown sentenced Prince and ordered him to pay $20,000 in fines and court costs associated with his case.

Prince pleaded guilty to the rape charge late last month, the same day his trial was to have started. He was arrested in April after the mother of an 8-year-old girl told Ironton police Prince raped her daughter.

Prince had previously worked as a police officer for the villages of Coal Grove and Hanging Rock and at the time of his arrest, was working as dog warden for the City of Ironton.

Also this week, an Ironton woman who pleaded guilty earlier this year to theft charges was sentenced to four years community controlled sanctions under intensive supervised probation.

Tara Waulk, 26, of 2390 County Road 55, pleaded guilty Nov. 10 to one count of theft by deception.

Judge Richard Walton ordered Waulk to successfully complete a community based treatment program and pay $2,200 in restitution to the victim. She is accused of stealing money from an elderly Lawrence County resident.