Saturday, August 21, 1999

Former Batavia teacher to serve 5 years

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Walker sentenced for sexual battery

BY WALT SCHAEFER
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Former Batavia High School teacher John Walker, far right, listens to Judge George Elliott's sentencing with his brother, co-counsel Larry Walker, center. (Yoni Pozner photo)

        BATAVIA — Former Batavia High School teacher John “Jack” Walker was sentenced to five years in prison Friday morning in Clermont County Common Pleas Court on 44 counts of sexual battery.

        Holding back his emotions and at times biting his lip, Mr. Walker told the court: “It is obvious that what I have done is very wrong. ... I have seen firsthand the problems, pain and anguish I have brought to my own family. ... So I can (understand) the pain ... I brought to the families of these young women.” He noted he has voluntarily sought psychiatric treatment.

        The sentence was imposed by visiting Judge George Elliott, retired from Butler County Common Pleas Court.

        Mr. Walker's wife of almost 25 years, Kay; their son, Andy; and John's brothers Don and Larry — the latter a co-counsel on the defense team — were in the courtroom. Clermont County Common Pleas Judge William Walker, another brother of the defendant, was not present. Larry Walker said the family had no comment.

        Mr. Walker, a drama and history teacher at Batavia High School, was accused of having improper relationships with two female students from the school. One of the girls was 17 when the incidents began in 1996; the age of the other was not available. Evidence included letters and sexually explicit photographs. The relationships Mr. Walker was accused of having also included sex at the school after hours, as well as in Mr. Walker's car and home, and trips with the girls to Tennessee, Michigan and Florida. He told his family he was going on golf trips, prosecutors said.

        In June, Mr. Walker, under an agreement, pleaded no contest to all 44 counts.

        Judge Elliott sentenced Mr. Walker to five years each on 42 of the 44 counts, and two years on the other two charges, which occurred in 1996 before changes in Ohio sentencing laws. The terms will run concurrently. The judge also imposed a fine of $110,000 — $2,500 for each of the third-degree felonies. Mr. Walker is not eligible for early release.

        The judge noted that Mr. Walker committed a serious offense under the sexual battery statute: abuse of the authority as a teacher and caregiver to students. “Less than the maximum sentence would demean the seriousness of the defendant's conduct,” the judge said.

        However, Judge Elliott did not find Mr. Walker to be a violent sexual predator, which would have permitted the court to impose a much harsher sentence — five years to life on each count, officials said.

        Instead, Judge Elliott declared Mr. Walker a sexual predator for life. Upon release from prison, Mr. Walker must register with the sheriff in the county where he resides and contact the sheriff every 90 days. Immediate neighbors also must be notified that Mr. Walker is a court-declared predator and lives near them.

        Special Prosector Rick Gibson said: “I am gratified this offender was given prison time, handcuffed and led out of the courtroom. ... I think this case called for that. As I see it, this was an abuse of a position of trust. He was (responsible) for teaching, caring for, nurturing and looking out for these students that were entrusted to him; and, instead, he abused them.”

        Judge Elliott was assigned the case because of John Walker's relationship to William Walker, the Clermont County Common Pleas Court judge. Mr. Gibson, an assistant Hamilton County prosecutor, handled the case to avoid any potential conflict of interest with the Clermont County Prosecutor's Office.

        Defense Attorney Martin Pinales said Mr. Walker's statements to the court as well as his demeanor show “he has great remorse. He comes from a very close-knit family filled with love.” Asked if he thought Mr. Walker might repeat such offenses, Mr. Pinales said: “I think it's very unlikely.”

       

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