ASHLAND – After nearly a year, the court case involving former Ashland High School history teacher Kimberly Siracuse is nearly complete after a plea deal was reached which may allow her to teach again.
According to court records, Siracuse pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge Thursday in Ashland County Municipal Court.
Siracuse, 49, could receive up to six months in jail and fine of up to $1,000 when she is sentenced on Sept. 15 by Ashland Municipal Court Judge John Good.
Initially, Siracuse was charged in September 2016 with three counts of sexual battery, a third-degree felony. If convicted, that could have netted her up to five years in prison. The charges resulted from alleged sexual contact with a female student in 1997.
Last month, Siracuse’s case moved to juvenile court, where the former teacher was set to plead guilty to failure to report child abuse or neglect. However, due to a question about whether the charge was a fourth-degree or a first-degree misdemeanor, Ashland County Prosecuting Attorney Christopher Tunnell asked Ashland County Juvenile Court Judge Damian Vercillo to dismiss the juvenile court case.
Mayer’s attorney James Mayer III said Friday it is his opinion that Siracuse’s plea to a misdemanor assault charge will not result in the automatic revocation of her teaching license.
“It’s my opinion that the plea to the assault does not cause a revocation of her license, whereas a felony sex offense would lead to immediate revocation. That is not the case with a misdemeanor assault. Certainly there can still be some procedure there. That’s been her whole career so I’m sure she’d like to continue with that,” Mayer said.
Her conviction will be forwarded to the Ohio Board of Education for review.
Mayer said he was prepared to move forward with a trial which was scheduled to start on Sept. 5.
Siracuse was removed from her classroom at Ashland High School on March 4, 2016. She was arrested on Sept. 11, 2016, and entered pleas of not guilty to all three charges on Sept. 12, 2016.
On Oct. 2, 2016, Siracuse offered the Ashland City Schools Board of Education a letter of resignation, which the board accepted.
Calls to Tunnell were not returned at the time this story was published.
