LOWELLVILLE Former football coach pleads guilty in sex case

The plea shaved more than 17 years off the former coach's possible sentence.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- In June 1999, Anthony Panici was the head football coach at Lowellville High School and a student teacher in the village's elementary school.
He struck up a relationship over the Internet with a 14-year-old Lowellville cheerleader who knew Panici from seeing him around town.
Their friendly chats via computer soon turned intimate. They eventually met and began a sexual relationship that now has the former coach facing more than seven years in prison.
Panici, 35, of West Wood Street, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to five counts of gross sexual imposition. Judge Maureen A. Cronin allowed Panici to remain out of jail on bond while a background check is done before sentencing.
Judge Cronin said she can place Panici on probation or could sentence him to up to 18 months in prison for each count. If she gives him the maximum sentence for each count and runs them consecutively, he faces 71/2 years in prison.
Prosecutors made no recommendation on the sentence, opting to leave it in the judge's hands.
E-mail led to investigation
Prosecutors said the girl's mother found an e-mail message Panici had sent to her daughter on the family's home computer. The mother notified school officials, who began an investigation, said assistant prosecutor Dawn Krueger.
Shortly afterward, the girl admitted to another teacher that she'd been having sexual relations with Panici, who had become the head football coach in 1999. That teacher notified school administrators, who called police.
In December 2000, a county grand jury indicted Panici on five counts of sexual battery. His case was set for trial Wednesday, but the trial was negated by the plea agreement, in which prosecutors reduced the charges.
Defense attorney Dennis DiMartino said there was little evidence on which prosecutors could have convicted Panici had the case gone to trial. "It's a he-said, she-said case," he said.
If Panici had been convicted of all five counts in the original indictment, however, he would have faced up to 25 years in prison. Going to trial with the possibility of such a stiff sentence was too high a risk, DiMartino added.
Girl's account
In court documents, the girl told authorities that she and Panici had sexual intercourse and oral sex several times between July and November 1999. She said Panici told her to keep quiet about it or "there would be trouble for him."
The encounters took place at his house or in his car. The girl told police that she was never forced into having sex with Panici, and she was concerned about what would happen to him.
Panici still faces six unrelated counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor, for which he was indicted last year.
While checking Panici's home computer for e-mail correspondence with the 14-year-old girl, authorities found pictures of child pornography he had downloaded and saved.
None of the pornography involved the girl, and Panici is not accused of sharing the images with anyone. Jay Macejko, assistant prosecutor, said those charges will be resolved at a later date.
bjackson@vindy.com