A Berlin Heights man who pleaded guilty to felony domestic violence after admitting he used a cattle prod on his children has lost his bid to take back that plea, and he is now set to be sentenced next month. Robert Bores had asked a judge to let him withdraw his guilty plea, insisting he remained convinced he was not guilty, but the request was denied.
Bores agreed in September 2025 to plead guilty to two counts of felony domestic violence, according to WKYC. As part of that agreement, prosecutors dropped a third domestic violence charge along with three counts of child endangerment. Sheriff Paul Sigsworth has said Bores admitted to detectives that he used the cattle prod on the children, the station reports.
Months later, on the day he was originally scheduled to be sentenced, Bores moved to withdraw the plea, according to the seed facts underlying the case timeline. He told the court he was dissatisfied with his former attorney, Jonathan McGookey, and said he had trouble understanding Judge Roger Binette in court because the judge was talking very fast. The station's report also notes Bores said seeing his oldest stepchild crying outside the courtroom left him emotionally upset and discombobulated.
Judge Finds No Basis to Recant
Judge Roger E. Binette dismissed the bulk of Bores's claims supporting withdrawal, per the same account. The judge found that Bores received competent representation from his previous attorney and that he knew the charges against him and that they could result in prison time. Binette also found that Bores lacked credibility regarding his withdrawal motion and ultimately determined he had no reasonable and legitimate basis to recant his plea, the outlet reported.
The judge further noted that the children who were victims in the case deserved closure now that the plea deal had been entered, according to the report. Bores could face up to six years in prison and a $20,000 fine, though reporting on the case has also cited a much higher potential exposure of 18 years and an $80,000 fine tied to an earlier stage of proceedings — a discrepancy the available reporting does not fully reconcile.
Bond Revoked After Turnpike Crash
Before the plea-withdrawal fight played out, Bores's bond was revoked after he was involved in an accident on the Ohio Turnpike, WKYC reported. He was charged in connection with that crash with operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, failing to stop at an accident scene, and failing to maintain assured clear distance. One of his original bond conditions had barred him from consuming alcohol at all.
Bores turned himself in to authorities after the revocation and was jailed until he posted a new bond. He retained attorney Brent English, who went on to represent him in both the traffic case and the pending domestic violence matter, according to the station's reporting.
Case Dates to 2024 Arrest
The case traces back to March 2024, when Bores was arrested after a tip from Children Services led Erie County Sheriff's detectives to his home in Florence Township, according to Cleveland19.com. He was indicted in May 2024 on three counts of domestic violence and three counts of child endangerment, per the earlier report.
Available reporting includes conflicting details about Bores himself and the case: one account lists him as 35 years old while another lists him as 34, and descriptions of the case have referred to either two or three children involved. Those discrepancies remain unresolved in the public record reviewed for this story.
Bores is now scheduled to be sentenced on November 12 in Erie County, at 2 p.m., according to WKYC. Whether that date holds, and what sentence the court ultimately imposes, remains to be seen.
