The city of Athens will not pursue public indecency charges stemming from the public sex act on Court Street that occurred Homecoming Weekend.
Athens Police Chief Tom Pyle said because of recommendations from Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn and Athens City Law Director Pat Lang, the city won’t pursue any charges from the incident that occurred early in the morning of Oct. 12 in front of Chase Bank, 2 S. Court St.
“It was my opinion that (public indecency) did occur,” Blackburn said in a previous Post article. “But I think that the public embarrassment of what has gone on is more than a misdemeanor charge could be.”
Athens Chief City Prosecutor Lisa Eliason declined to comment on why the charges were not being pressed, and said in an email it was an Athens Police Department matter. She added the city police is the entity that files misdemeanor charges.
Pyle said both Blackburn and Lang advised the police not to pursue the additional charges because they felt they would be difficult to prove.
“Whether they be misdemeanors, felonies, sexual assault, indecent exposure, all of those would be very difficult cases to prove because of the elements and the complexity of what occurred,” Pyle said. “When we have two prosecutors explain to us that in any direction these are difficult charges to prove, we have to rely on their expertise, so we didn’t file any charges.”
As far as the ongoing investigation of the incident by Ohio University, Vice President of Student Affairs Ryan Lombardi said he is not able to confirm any details.
“I don’t want to get in trouble or implicate students in any way with the privacy that they are afforded,” Lombardi said. “By federal law we are required to investigate all reports of sexual misconduct. We certainly do that.”
He added these investigations typically take anywhere from 45 to 60 days. As of Wednesday, it had been 48 days since OU President Roderick McDavis released a statement acknowledging the university’s internal investigation.
Once the investigation is completed, the information is not public.
“The other component I would put in there is that there is an appeals process and both parties can appeal the decision,” Lombardi said. “That can prolong the process. I can’t speak to exactly where we are in the process, but we’re doing everything we’re mandated to do.”
The appeal has to be filed within five business days of the original decision, but there isn’t a timeline for how quickly the decision of the appeal would have to be made, Lombardi said.
“I don’t want you to think that I’m suggesting that that’s taking place, but it could add anywhere from one to four weeks on to the process,” Lombardi said. “That’s what the timeline could hypothetically be like.”
as299810@ohiou.edu
@akarl_smith
