Affirm character, let sentence stand (03/29/08)

There's been a lot of talk over the last few months in Jay County about character.

And that's great.

Building character is important for any community. Things like trust and responsibility are invaluable, and we need to nurture them in our children.

But if we're going to do that, we need to hold adults accountable for their behavior when they betray those principles, when they display a lack of character. And we - as a community - need to make it clear that we set the highest possible standards for those who have been placed in positions of trust when it comes to the education of our children.

Next week, on April 3, Jay Circuit Court Judge Brian Hutchison will have a unique opportunity to affirm that character does count and that those who betray trust will be held accountable.

April 3 is the day Judge Hutchison will consider a petition by former Jay Schools teacher Greg Hemmelgarn to have his felony conviction for disseminating harmful material to a minor reduced to a misdemeanor.

Hemmelgarn, a former assistant golf coach at Jay County High School, pleaded guilty to the single felony count as part of a plea bargain agreement. Six other felony counts - including sexual misconduct with a minor and child seduction - were dismissed.

Why was there a plea bargain? It was an effort to spare the victim - who was just 14 when the inappropriate behavior began - the trauma of taking the case to trial and testifying.

Those seven original felony charges resulted in a sentence of just 18 months in jail, and all but 30 days of that were suspended. And the victim still had to tell her story in open court.

That was back in August of 2006.

But this month, Hemmelgarn sought to have the charge reduced to a misdemeanor, further minimizing the consequences of his actions and increasing the likelihood that he would again find himself in a position of trust and responsibility that could be betrayed.

That idea is disturbing. It gives us a lot of reasons to wonder if all this talk about character isn't just sloganeering if no one is held accountable.

Judge Hutchison could change that. He could give the victim - and the rest of us - one less reason to be cynical, one more reason to believe that character isn't just a matter of slogans but a matter of justice.

From our perspective, the original penalties exacted under the plea bargain were too lenient. To reduce them even further, to minimize the betrayal of trust, would be a travesty. - J.R.[[In-content Ad]]