Feb 26, 2008 - Kevin M. Chapman, 51, an art teacher boys swim coach at Upper Arlington High School was arrested today and charged with two counts of rape and one of sexual battery.
He was arrested in the high school office about 2:15 p.m. The district was unaware of the investigation before police arrived at the school. Chapman was charged based on incidents in 1996 and 1997. The victim was a girl who was 15 at the time.
Chapman has worked for the district since 1989. District records say he was paid $81,616.
Upper Arlington police ask anyone who contends they were a victim of Chapman to contact them at 614-583-5160.
BOND - Feb 27 - A judge ordered Chapman held on $25,000 bond.
After the hearing, Chapman's attorney said he had concerns about why the now 28-year-old woman brought the allegations to light, Hirsch reported.TT - How about because she grew up and got the courage to confront the creep? How about a 15-year-old student sexually abused by a then-38 or 39 year old teacher isn't up to confronting authority? And how come attorneys for priests never questioned the motives of victims?
POSSIBLE PLEA AGREEMENT May 7 - Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said Chapman has agreed to plead guilty to to sexual battery and unlawful sexual conduct with a minor charges for having sex with a former student in the 1990s. The agreement came a day after Chapman resigned from the school district. He is is expected to enter the plea on May 19.
---
No online press release yet from the Franklin County Prosecutor's office.
SHOCK AT PLEA May 8 - "The shock that was felt by dozens of Upper Arlington students and families became all the more real Wednesday, May 7." - when they found out that Chapman agreed to plead guilty. Chapman resigned Wednesday (May 6) before agreeing to plead guilty to the charges made against him. He had been on paid administrative leave since the arrest, with a full-time replacement hired for him last month.
GUILTY PLEA May 19 - Chapman pleaded guilty to one count each of sexual battery and unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.
The teacher has admitted having sex with the student at least three times in one year in classrooms at Upper Arlington High School, [Assistant County Prosecutor Daniel] Hawkins said.He will be sentenced July 11.
SENTENCED July 15 - Chapman was sentenced to five years in prison. for the sexual battery and 18 months for unlawful sexual conduct with a minor to run concurrently.
The victim read a statement.
"I was only 15; I had never even been kissed by a boy," the woman said, reading from a seven-page statement. "Chapman had talked so much about his sexual escapades from college that I thought that maybe this is what cool college kids do and that maybe he really liked me the most or was even falling in love with me."The judge said his supporters, including those who wrote letters, don't understand the abuse the woman endured. "There is another side here. We have an adult who was preying on her," Pfeiffer said. "Prison is the only appropriate response."
It is likely that Chapman will be a registered sex offender, but the judge will allow arguments that the that the law cannot be applied to a crime that was committed before it was enacted.
