Man gets six months' jail, probation, in bodily fluids case

March 26, 2015 at 12:07a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

The victim felt betrayed, and the defendant said he was disgusted, as John Cutlip was sentenced Wednesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for inserting his bodily fluids into his boss’ soup.

Cutlip, 28, of Maplewood Drive in Liberty, was given five years’ probation, part of which includes a six-month stay in the county jail and 1,000 hours of community service, which he must begin when he is released from the jail.

He was sentenced by Judge Maureen Sweeney on a misdemeanor charge of telecommunications harassment and a fifth-degree felony charge of criminal mischief, charges he pleaded guilty to Feb. 11.

He was indicted in June after an investigation by police in Struthers, which is the location of the business where Cutlip worked. Police said the boss consumed the soup. Police he said filmed himself inserting the fluids and later posted the video online to impress a girlfriend.

Cutlip apologized, saying the victim was more than a friend to him — and was “family to me. Many people would come to our office and ask if I was her son.”

“It was very out of character for me,” Cutlip said. “I feel like a very vile and disgusting person.”

Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer McLaughlin said she had two “lengthy” telephone conversations with the victim, who did not want to come to court because McLaughlin said she was embarrassed.

“She said she was like family to this defendant,” McLaughlin said. “For him to have done this to her was like an added slap in the face for her.”

McLaughlin recommended probation but also asked that part of that sentence include time in the county jail, because she said the circumstances of the crime deserve some type of punishment.

“It’s really offensive, the nature of this conduct,” McLaughlin said.

Sam Amendolara, Cutlip’s lawyer, said his client has no previous felony convictions on his record and also said his client is very sorry for what he did, but he can’t explain why he did it. Amendolara also said the crime was “repugnant.”

“It’s a very sad matter,” Amendolara said. “There’s no excuse for what he did.”