Ex-Ohio principal convicted of sex charges sentenced to 2 years

CHILLICOTHE, Ohio (AP) — A former Ohio principal of the year convicted on charges of having sex with two female high-school students has been sentenced to two years in prison.

A Ross County judge on Monday sentenced the former Chillicothe High School principal to prison despite recommendations for no prison time. The judge said Jeffrey Fisher, 36, had turned the school into his “own hunting ground.”

Fisher entered an Alford plea last year on two sexual battery counts in a deal in which prosecutors agreed to recommend no jail time. An Alford plea asserts innocence while acknowledging prosecutors have enough evidence for a conviction.

Prosecutors have said the sexual relationships with the two students happened during the 2009-10 and 2011-12 school years.