BY STEVE KEMME
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON -- A Butler County Juvenile Court deputy clerk who was caught at work with a loaded handgun in her purse received a $100 fine and a six-month suspended jail sentence Tuesday.
Monica Mae Wilson was fired from her job June 1 after authorities discovered a loaded .25-caliber semiautomatic handgun in her purse.
Ms. Wilson, 40, of Hamilton, pleaded no contest Tuesday in Hamilton Municipal Court to a misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed weapon.
She originally was charged with a more serious crime -- illegal conveyance of a deadly weapon into a courthouse, a felony. If convicted of that charge, she could have been sent to jail for a year and fined $2,500.
But with the consent of the arresting officer, Deputy Michael Brockman, the charge was reduced.
In addition to the fine and the suspended jail sentence, Judge John Rosmarin put Ms. Wilson on two years' probation, but won't require her to report to a probation officer.
Ms. Wilson, who had worked for juvenile court for 1 1/2 years, had no criminal record, said her attorney, Thomas E. Fox Jr.
He called the gun incident "an inadvertent mistake on her part." Rob Clevenger, the director of juvenile court services, received an anonymous tip that an employee had a gun in her purse, according to the police report.
After an investigation, Mr. Clevenger and the Butler County Sheriff's Department found a gun in a leather case in Ms. Wilson's purse.
The incident has caused juvenile court to review its security policy.
Juvenile court employees who enter through the main entrance haven't been required to go through the metal detector, Mr. Clevenger said.
Some employees also come in through other entrances that have no metal detectors, he said.
"As a result of this situation," he said, "I will be reviewing that policy to determine what's the best course to take."
