Bolivar man gets prison time for child sex abuse conviction
NEW PHILADELPHIA (WJER) (Sept. 17, 2024 – A former daycare worker and student teacher will spend three years in prison for sexually abusing a child he was babysitting.
That’s the maximum penalty 25-year-old Justin McCauley faced after being tried and found guilty of gross sexual imposition. Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Ernest doled out the punishment.
“It’s not simply that you didn’t live up to the expectations of protecting her. It’s really you utilized that position, you capitalized on that position for your own benefit, which I think particularly is egregious.”
Over a dozen people packed into the courtroom to support the former daycare worker and student teacher who went on trial three times before being found guilty on August 20th. Assistant County Prosecutor Kristine Beard was concerned about what might happen if he were allowed to remain in the community.
“Every time I come in this courtroom, people fill this courtroom and cannot consider the fact that he may have a problem. I told the defense I was not going to make a sentencing recommendation this morning because I trust the court, but to put this person back in the community with that kind of support would do nothing but give him further ability to molest children.”
McCauley’s first trial in 2022 ended with him being acquitted of a second G-S-I count involving a different child and the second in February resulted in a mistrial. He maintains his innocence and intends to appeal the conviction, which comes with a Tier II Sex Offender designation and disqualifies him from teaching in Ohio.