Former School Resource Officer Convicted of Sexual Battery

(EATON, Ohio) - A former Preble County deputy sheriff who served as a school resource officer was found guilty of engaging in a sexual relationship with a student, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced today.

Mason Williams, 26, of Eaton was convicted of three third-degree felonies - two counts of sexual battery and one count of tampering with evidence - after attorneys from Yost's Special Prosecutions Section detailed an inappropriate relationship between Williams and an 18-year-old student at National Trail High School, where the deputy worked as a resource officer.

The case is the fourth involving illegal sexual conduct with a student prosecuted in recent years by Yost's office.

"Parents shouldn't have to worry about predators when they send their kids to school," Yost said. "There is no age or no so-called consent that makes a school employee having sex with a student appropriate."

Ohio law prohibits those in a position of power from engaging in sex with a student enrolled at the school where they work, regardless of the student's age or whether the two think the relationship is consensual.

Williams was indicted in March following an investigation by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office. The sexual battery charges specified that he "did engage in sexual conduct with [the victim], not his spouse, while Mason R. Williams was teacher, administrator, coach, or other person in authority employed by or serving in a school in which [the victim] was enrolled in or attended."

Investigators also found that Williams had deleted electronic correspondence with the victim, prompting the tampering charge.

Williams will be sentenced on Dec. 16 at 1:00 p.m. In addition to potential prison time, he will be required to register as a sexual offender for the rest of his life.

In recent years, Yost's office has prosecuted three other cases involving an illegal relationship with a student:

• Caroline Johnson, a former coach and intervention specialist with Bloom-Vernon Local School District in Scioto County, is scheduled to be sentenced on Monday (Nov. 25) after pleading guilty in October to two counts of sexual battery involving a minor student.
• Shawn Long, a former school resource officer with East Liverpool Schools in Columbiana County, was sentenced in February to 90 days in jail for disseminating matter harmful to juveniles. Investigators found that he had messaged a 17-year-old student and sent her photos of his genitals.
• Steve Kent, a former school resource officer with Poland Local Schools in Mahoning County, recently lost an appeal of his one-year sentence for tampering with evidence to cover up a relationship he'd had with a student. He is currently incarcerated at the Toledo Correctional Institution