2 Ohio bills address teen dating violence

By Marc Kovac

A Niles legislator would have schools teach about dating violence.

COLUMBUS — Two years ago, Johanna Orozco was raped at knife-point by a former boyfriend.

The now-20-year-old Cleveland woman reported the incident to police, and her attacker was arrested — only to be released from juvenile detention a few days later.

Orozco contacted police again after receiving threatening phone calls and being stalked by the rapist, hoping to get a restraining order. But law enforcement told her that wasn’t possible, because the perpetrator was a juvenile.

And so, 18 days after reporting the rape, Orozco was shot in the face with a sawed-off shotgun, leaving scars that remain today.

“The system did not — and could not — protect me,” she told reporters during a press conference at the Statehouse on Tuesday. “There are a lot of teenagers who find themselves in violent, dangerous relationships. ... It is too late for me, but it’s not too late to educate young people on how to best deal with violent relationships, and it is not too late to give the justice system the tools it needs to give juveniles the same protection as adults.”

Orozco spoke Tuesday on behalf of two bills introduced by lawmakers and aimed at dealing with domestic violence among teenagers. The first would enable juvenile court judges to issue protection orders against teens.

“Ohio law does not currently allow teens to seek protection orders when they are victims of violence by juveniles they are dating,” said Rep. Jennifer Garrison, a Democrat from Marietta who spoke during Tuesday’s press conference. She added, “It is well past — well past — having this legislation in effect for teens.”

The second bill, sponsored by Rep. Sandra Stabile Harwood, a Democrat from Niles, would require school districts to adopt dating abuse policies and incorporate dating violence education into health classes.

“What my bill is about is really hopefully educating so that we prevent this abuse from occurring and so that people recognize what it is and raise the awareness of it so that hopefully down the road we will have to seek fewer prevention orders,” Harwood said.

Both bills are pending in the Ohio House.