TRUMBULL COUNTY Fowler chief is suspended

By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
FOWLER -- The township's chief has been suspended after allegations that he was spanking teenage offenders.
Chief James Martin was placed on unpaid suspension Monday, said Atty. Mark Finamore, the township's legal counsel.
Martin, who also is a captain at the Howland Township police department, also was suspended from his post there, said Police Chief Paul Monroe.
Monroe said the FBI and Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation were asked to assist in the investigation.
Martin declined to comment and referred calls to his legal counsel Randall Weltman.
"At this time, we will step aside and allow them to do the investigation," Weltman said.
John Kane, agent in charge of the Youngstown office of the FBI, said his department is investigating allegations that Martin was paddling youths as part of a juvenile diversion program.
Federal and state agents searched Martin's home and his chief's office, Finamore and Weltman confirmed.
January incident
Atty. Sarah Kovoor of Warren is representing a juvenile boy who says Martin paddled him after he was arrested in Fowler in January on charges of speeding and driving without a license.
"I find this behavior very bizarre," Kovoor said. "The act was barbaric. The chief made this boy take off his jeans and then used a paddle to swat him. He had welts after this."
Kovoor noted that shortly after the boy was arrested on the traffic charges the chief contacted the boy's mother and told her that if she allowed her son to take part in the diversion program the boy would not have a criminal record.
1993 admission
According to a 1993 internal investigation conducted by former Howland Police Chief Steve Lamantia, Martin had admitted paddling juveniles in the past.
Lamantia's investigation states that Martin admitted paddling about 20 juveniles at the Howland Township Police Department from 1975 to 1992. The paddlings were done as part of a juvenile diversion program, Lamantia said.
"I was hired in 1993, and the trustees were very concerned about Capt. Martin and wanted me to make sure he stopped paddling juveniles," Lamantia said. "I removed him as the diversion officer Feb. 16, 1993."
Lamantia said Trumbull County Children Services Board investigated a complaint of paddling in early 1993. Lamantia said the parent consented to corporal punishment being issued by Martin.
A Jan. 27, 1993, letter from children services to Martin states there was no evidence to support an allegation of child abuse. The letter, however, recommends that Martin eliminate paddling or the use of any other form of physical discipline as an option in his diversion program.
Lamantia also sent a letter Feb. 16, 1993, to the county prosecutor's office asking if any action should be taken against Martin.
James Misocky, an assistant county prosecutor, sent a letter back stating that since the paddling was done with parental consent and there was no evidence of child abuse, no action was warranted against the officer.
The letter further stated, however, that no township officer should participate in any physical contact of any kind, such as paddling, with any juvenile offender.
sinkovich@vindy.com