Grand jury indicts former teacher

By Denise Dick | May 24, 2013 at 12:05a.m.

Youngstown

A former teacher has been indicted on three counts of rape, accused of having sex with three women who were impaired by alcohol or other substances.

Jay Dana, 56, of Fort Myers, Fla., formerly of Columbiana, was indicted Thursday after the case was directly presented to a Mahoning County grand jury. That means he wasn’t initially charged in a lower court. Rebecca Doherty, chief of the criminal division of the Mahoning County prosecutor’s office, said the victims were women whom Dana had dated.

The women were “substantially impaired either by alcohol or some type of substance that caused them to either be unaware of it or they couldn’t stop it,” she said.

In that state, a person is unable to give consent, Doherty said. It’s similar to the case of the teenage girl in Steubenville who was raped by two football players while she was impaired by alcohol.

Whether a person administers the source of the impairment or is aware of it, it’s a rape charge.

Doherty didn’t say how the women became impaired.

“Some testing is still being done,” she said.

Boardman Superintendent Frank Lazzeri said Dana, a teacher for about 30 years, retired at the end of 2011 when the district offered buyouts. There was no disciplinary action that led to his departure, he said.

“He left along with 31 other teachers and administrators when we offered the buyouts,” the superintendent said.

Dana taught English at Boardman Center Middle School.

Before moving to Florida, Dana most recently lived in Columbiana.

There, Dana’s wife, Michele Ann Gardner, was found dead Christmas morning 2010 at the couple’s home. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.48.

“That’s the highest blood-alcohol content I’ve ever seen in my career,” said Tim Gladis, Columbiana police chief, a 33-year law- enforcement officer.

The coroner ruled the cause of death as alcohol poisoning. No charges were filed.

Gladis said that Dana, who made the 911 call, told police he and his wife had been playing a drinking game the night before.