Former Riverdale teacher accused of having sex with student
6/28/2017MOUNT BLANCHARD, Ohio — A former Riverdale Local Schools teacher is accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old female student.
Brooke L. Rosendale, 26, of Bloomdale, is charged with three counts of sexual battery, all third-degree felonies. Prosecutors allege the offenses occurred Jan. 4 and Feb. 3, court documents show.
She was indicted Tuesday by a Hancock County grand jury. The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office investigated the incident after it was reported by the girl’s parents on March 12, a detective said.
Ms. Rosendale, a former fifth grade elementary special education teacher, worked for the district for three years, Riverdale Schools Superintendent Eric Hoffman said. In March 2016 she received a one-year contract for the 2016-2017 school year, according to school board meeting minutes.
The incidents did not happen on school grounds, and the girl was not in Ms. Rosendale’s class, but the two knew each other through the school programs, Hancock County Prosecutor Phil Riegle said.
Ms. Rosendale resigned from the district on March 27, Mr. Hoffman said.
Ms. Rosendale couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday.
She is at least the third teacher this year in the northwest Ohio arrested on accusations of having inappropriate relations with students.
In January, Brian Kressbach, a teacher at St. Paul Lutheran School, was arrested on 13 sex-related charges for sexually assaulting three girls who were between the ages of 13 and 15 when the assaults occurred from April, 2016, and January, 2017. He was sentenced Tuesday in Henry County Common Pleas Court to 22 years in prison.
In March, former Springfield High School math teacher Kyle McKinch was arrested for having sex with a student, who was 15 and 16 at the time, between Jan. 29 and Aug. 31, 2016, while working as a teacher at the high school. He was sentenced to three years in prison by Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Ruth Ann Franks on June 22.
Contact Allison Reamer at: areamer@theblade.com, 419-724-6506, or on Twitter @AllisonRBlade.