Ron Welch
Muskingum County Prosecutor
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, June 12, 2026
Appeal Denied for Convicted Rapist Cody Friend
(Zanesville, OH)
In July 2025, a three-day trial concluded with a Jury deliberating for approximately 8 hours before returning guilty verdicts against Cody Friend on 12 of 13 counts. The charges included eleven counts of Rape and one count of Gross Sexual Imposition. The three victims in the case were under the age of 18 when the crimes happened from 2003 to 2011.
In August of 2025 Judge Gerald Anderson imposed a mandatory 44-year prison sentence.
Friend is currently serving his prison sentence at the Noble Correctional Institution. His expected release date is 11/10/2068.
https://www.muskingumprosecutor.org/News-Events/Muskingum-County-Court-Hands-Down-44-Year-Prison-Sentence-On-Child-Sexual-Assault-Case/296/
Following his conviction, Friend filed an appeal to overturn his conviction.
Friend claimed “the trial court erred in failing to sever sex offenses relating to three separate alleged victims”; Friend argued that because there were three separate alleged victims in the case that the Court should have granted a separate jury trial for each.
Friend’s appeal further argued that the trial court erred when it limited his closing argument.
The Fifth District Court of Appeals reviewed the trial, weighed the evidence (including court transcripts) and determined there were no errors and upheld the judgment of the Muskingum County Court of Common Pleas.
Cody Friend will continue to serve his 44-year prison sentence.
Prosecutor Welch stated, “Even after trials have ended, this office works to make sure that monsters like Cody Friend stay locked up for as long as possible.”
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