43
Painesville man sentenced in obscenity case, avoids jail time
By Elise Franco
Youngstown
Robert P. McLaughlin avoided jail time for pandering obscenity and other offenses tied to harassment of a local teacher but must register as a sex offender.
McLaughlin, 63, of Marsh Lane in Painesville, was sentenced Tuesday by Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on three counts of pandering obscenity and three counts of possessing criminal tools. He pleaded guilty to those charges May 12.
Judge Sweeney sentenced McLaughlin to five years’ probation, which include 500 hours of community service, $2,500 in fines, anger-management classes and a no-contact order with the victim.
He will also have to register as a Tier 1 sex offender. As a registered sex offender, McLaughlin is required to report to the sheriff’s department in his home county annually for 15 years.
Police said McLaughlin had been harassing the victim, a Canfield resident and educator, since March 2010 by sending emails threatening to reveal personal information about her.
“It’s my belief that a nonprison sanction will properly punish,” Judge Sweeney said.
McLaughlin’s attorney Ruth Fischbein Cohen, of Cuyahoga County, said probation is the proper sentence because her client has no past criminal offenses.
“He’s not been any trouble, and he had a clean record,” she said. “He’s no threat whatsoever. ... He certainly intends to abide by the court’s orders.”
McLaughlin, who declined to comment, was arrested in his home Dec. 8, 2010, after Canfield police executed a search warrant.
A police report said detectives found photos of the victim, pornographic material, stacks of papers listing names and addresses of schools in Ohio and Pennsylvania, as well as various area businesses; computer equipment; and business cards with the victim’s ex-boyfriend’s name on them.
In addition to the emails, letters containing a website with fabricated sexual information about the victim and business cards stating the victim would perform specific sexual acts were mailed to business owners, school administrators and teachers throughout Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties, and parts of Pennsylvania, the report said.