This is from my local paper. Justice was not served. 17 months. His own son.
OTTAWA — A man now living in Venedocia will spend the next 17 months in
prison after pleading guilty to two counts of attempted gross sexual imposition
with his son. Leonard O. Kroeger, 41, of 14765 Converse Roselm
Road, Venedocia, altered his plea Friday afternoon in Putnam County Common Pleas
Court to clear up a clerical error in the description of his crime. He pleaded
guilty to attempted sexual imposition on July 20, but he changed that plea to
two counts of attempted gross sexual imposition, a fourth-degree felony, on
Friday. After more than an hour of testimony from clinical and
forensic psychologist Dr. Thomas Hustak and two members of Kroeger’s family,
Judge Randall Basinger declined to sentence Kroeger to the community service
requested by his attorney, Gregory Novak. Instead, he gave Kroeger 17 months in
the Ohio Department of Correction and Rehabilitation for each count, to be
served at the same time. He must also register as a sexual
offender in the counties he works or lives in for the next 10 years.
“A parent should protect his children,” Basinger told Kroeger
during the sentencing. “The exact opposite happened here: A parent perpetrated
this felonious sexual assault.” Kroeger admitted his shame to
the actions with his son, who was 6 and 7 years old when the actions occurred.
He promised never to do them again. His attorney said Kroeger’s “sexual
confusion” played a factor in the actions, and Kroeger had since decided he was
a homosexual and should complete a dissolution from his wife next week.
“I love (my son) with all my heart, and I don’t know what harm
I’ve caused him,” Kroeger said. “I assure the court this will not ever happen
again, and it hasn’t happened in the six years since then.”
Hustak said his evaluations showed Kroeger wasn’t likely to
act as a sexual offender again, given the remorse he showed and a variety of
psychological factors. Kroeger’s case received additional
attention in April. He and a man he was living with in Allen County’s Amanda
Township moved out of a rented home on Cremean Road after receiving pressure
from neighbors. “He loves (his son) very much,” Novak said.
“He already suffered public humiliation, with the newspaper articles about this.
There was one on the bulletin board at his work. He was harassed by the Allen
County sheriff. … It’s been a difficult time for him.”
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