A former athletic trainer at Clay High School convicted of having sex with a student was granted an early release from prison Wednesday, but with conditions.
Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Gary Cook granted Melinda Rober’s motion for judicial release but placed her on community control for three years and ordered that she serve 45 days in the Lucas County Work Release Program followed by 45 days on electronic monitoring.
In 2014, Rober, 38, pleaded no contest and was found guilty of two counts of sexual battery for engaging in oral sex with a 17-year-old boy in the school’s football locker room two times between December, 2011, and May 31, 2012.
She admitted to having sex with the same young man at his home in Oregon between Sept. 1, 2012, and Oct. 31, 2012.
Judge Cook sentenced Rober to a year in prison. She served approximately 60 days before Ohio’s 6th District Court of Appeals granted her an appeal bond while it considered her appeal. On Dec. 30, the court upheld her conviction and sentence, and Rober was returned to prison.
Her attorney, Stephen Hartman, told the court Rober had served more than half of her sentence and had a job waiting for her at Great Lakes Rental. He pointed out that other defendants convicted of similar crimes have been placed on probation rather than sent to prison as Rober was.
Still, he said, reports from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction indicate Rober has been a model prisoner. She is considered unlikely to reoffend, he said.
For her part, Rober apologized for her conduct.
“It wasn’t a crime that I intended to commit,” she said. “Over the last few years I have learned a lot about myself. ... Now my focus is on my family.”
Prosecutors opposed her motion for release, saying in a written response that judicial release would demean the seriousness of the crime.
“The state would argue that the victim in this case will be suffering long after the defendant has served her 12 months,” Jennifer Lambdin, an assistant county prosecutor, wrote.
“I’m very pleased that the judge saw fit to do this,” Mr. Hartman said afterward. “She was disappointed she can’t go right home to her kids, but she understands why he imposed some community control sanctions. Under the circumstances, I think it’s reasonable.”
Contact Jennifer Feehan at: jfeehan@theblade.com or 419-213-2134.
First Published June 2, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
