ASHLAND – Ashland County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Josh Aspin’s caseload is heavy, both in the high number of cases he juggles and in the heartbreaking content of those cases.
As county prosecutor Christopher Tunnell puts it, Aspin spends his days “grinding in the trenches,” working tirelessly to prosecute child abuse, neglect and dependency cases on behalf of Children’s Services.
Aspin works the cases that may not make headlines but do have a monumental impact on children’s lives, and he does so willingly, having chosen to forgo felony cases to assume his current role.
That’s why Tunnell nominated Aspin for the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association’s Meritorious Assistant Prosecuting Attorney award and why a committee of Ohio county prosecutors selected Aspin as the sole recipient of the statewide award for 2018.
From April, when Aspin began in the role, through October, when Tunnell nominated him for the award, Aspin filed 60 complaints and 109 motions and made 203 appearances in court.
“His office looks like a file room, as he sorts through a juvenile justice system that currently has 179 active Children’s Services cases,” Tunnell wrote in his nomination letter. “That, of course, doesn’t include cases that are not yet in court.”
Many of the cases are seemingly never-ending, as a case may begin when a child is young and continue until he or she reaches age 18, said Tunnell.
Because of the emotionally challenging nature of the work, Tunnell said he never forces any of his staff to prosecute Children’s Services cases. Aspin’s role is the only one in Tunnell’s office that is purely voluntary.
Aspin was assigned the job temporarily in April when the previous assistant prosecutor in the role, Peter Stefaniuk, was hired Ashland County’s Director Job and Family Services.
Tunnell then gave Aspin a choice whether to stay on Children’s Services cases or to go back to his old job prosecuting felony cases. Aspin surprised Tunnell by choosing the former.
“I really felt led to take the position because I felt like it was an area I could make a difference in,” Aspin said, adding that he was tired seeing many of the same defendants become repeat offenders in felony cases.
As a father of three, Aspin said, he is saddened to regularly see parents not prioritizing their children or choosing drugs over their kids.
“Sometimes it really strikes me, the contrast between my home and what I see when I come to work and get involved in these cases,” he said.
On the other hand, working on behalf of children who need help can be rewarding, and there are occasional moments of hope.
“Not every case is a sad ending,” Aspin said. “Sometimes there is a good ending because a family can be reunified and there can be a stronger, healthy family for a child to go back to.”
Aspin is the eighth person from Ashland County to receive one of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association’s annual awards since 1985 and the second person from the county to earn the award for Meritorious Assistant Prosecuting Attorney. The same award went to Ramona Rogers in 1987.
Aspin said he was shocked when Tunnell called him with the news that he had won the award.
“It’s very humbling, knowing how hard the other staff in this office work and how hard other prosecutors and children’s services workers work, that I would receive this,” Aspin said.
Aspin also shares credit for the award with Angie Krebs, the administrative assistant who works alongside him on child abuse, neglect and dependency cases.
“The award is really a reflection of our combined efforts,” he said.
