Group home ex-caregiver gets 30 days over contact

1/9/2004

VAN WERT, Ohio - A local man was ordered in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court yesterday to serve 30 days in jail for having inappropriate contact with a person living in a group home.

Judge John Schmitt of Shelby County sentenced Randall Hoblet, 54, to six months in jail, of which the judge suspended all but 30 days. In addition, Mr. Hoblet was fined $500 plus court costs, put on probation for a year, and ordered to undergo assessment by a local behavioral center. He also must pay restitution to the victim.

Mr. Hoblet was to have gone on trial Wednesday, but he entered a guilty plea to a reduced charge of assault, a first-degree misdemeanor.

He originally was indicted on a charge of gross sexual imposition in October by a county grand jury after Van Wert police alleged that Mr. Hoblet had inappropriate contact with a person living in a group home run by the Board of Mental Retardation and Disabilities. At the time, Mr. Hoblet was a contract worker for the home and was referred to as a caregiver.

Glen Lause was appointed a special prosecutor to handle the case.