Prosecutor asks for dismissal of all charges atainst a Fitch High School teacher. Dismissal granted by judge on Mar 1.
Jan 6, 2007 - A teacher at Austintown Fitch High School, is scheduled to go to trial on Feb 28 on on six counts of sexual battery. In is in connection with sexual contact with a 16- and-17-year-old student in 2005 when he was a teacher at the school.
He had been with the school district 33 years. He retired in March 2006.
The above ^(teacher) was found at the bottom of an article about the sentencing of another man, Paul J. Snyder, in a separate case.
Paul J. Snyder, 51, was sentenced "for having sexual relations with the same girl between July 11, 2001, and Dec. 31, 2004, when she was between ages 13 and 15." He was sentenced to six years and a $20,000 fine.
TT - If I am reading the prosecutor's statement correctly, she seemed to saying that Snyder could be eligible for release in 30 days of "shock probation."
As it is defined. - "Shock probation" normally describes probation following a short period of incarceration meant to "shock" the defendant out of reoffending, by making the defendant aware of the consequences of reoofending and the realities of prison life."
[So, statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl for three years that started when the victim was 13 (and he was 45-46) is punished by 30 days in jail?!!!
Does that make any sense? And does it make sense for the prosecutor to say, "This isn't a rape case," when clearly it was statutory rape? If what she meant was that the relationship was consensual, aren't age of consent laws written to protect minors from sexual exploitation by adults by rendering minors legally incapable of giving informed consent? No relationship with a child that young is consensual. The age of consent in Ohio is 16. Am I missing something here?]
UPDATE Feb 27 - The prosecution has asked for dismissal of the case against the teacher on the grounds that the victim refuses to testify. The girl now lives in Indiana and requested the dismissal. The prosecutor added that his motion is made "with the understanding that charges may be reinstated should the victim be emotionally prepared to testify at a later date."
[TT- Or maybe a different prosecutor?]
Update Feb 28 - Snyder wants to withdraw his guilty plea.
By imposing six years, Atty. John B. Juhasz wrote that Judge Sweeney didn't fulfill a commitment she made to adhere to the plea agreement, under which Prosecutor Dawn Krueger recommended a three-year prison term and said she didn't object to judicial release (shock probation) eligibility for Snyder after 30 days.No hearing date has been set on the motion.
Therefore, Juhasz argued that Snyder's plea wasn't voluntary and that Snyder was the victim of "manifest injustice."
Update Mar 1 - A judge granted a motion Wednesday by county Prosecutor Paul J. Gains that the indictment against the teacher be dismissed because the accuser won't testify in a trial. The prosecutor has six years to re-file should the witness change her mind.
