A jury has reached a verdict on several charges in a trial for a former youth sports coach from Mason accused of child sex crimes.Prosecutors say Eric Schmidt raped a 12-year-old girl and had sexual contact with another.Schmidt was charged with one count of rape, two counts of gross sexual imposition and two counts of public indecency.Both alleged victims were 12 years old at the time.Prosecutors say the victims were not members of his teams; however, they say one of the sex crimes took place at a party where football parents were present.Schmidt was found guilty of gross sexual imposition for molesting a 12-year-old at a football party in 2019. Children and adults who were at the party testified that Schmidt showed up drunk and was drinking straight from a bottle of Grey Goose.The mother of the 12-year-old victim spoke with WLWT Friday evening, on her way home from dropping her daughter back off at an Illinois treatment facility where she is receiving specialized trauma therapy.”She has been diagnosed with PTSD, depression, anxiety and an eating disorder,” she said. “Nobody thinks that this could happen to them, certainly not by a close family friend.”The mother said her family is content with one guilty verdict and relieved that her daughter can now solely focus on her recovery.”We knew that the rape charge was going to be a hard one to prove since no one had seen that, but at least her voice was heard and there is some justice,” she said. “She’s amazing. She’s a rock star, and I just love her to death.”Deliberations lasted part of Thursday and Friday in Warren County.On Friday afternoon, a judge read aloud Schmidt’s verdict. The jury found Schmidt guilty of one gross sexual imposition charge, not guilty of rape and not guilty of one of the public indecency charges. The jury is hung on counts four and five — gross sexual imposition and public indecency.”I think anytime you have a trial like this and you bring in the victims and you allow them to tell their story, even in those cases where you don’t get a guilty verdict, I think there is a measure of justice done,” said Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell. “They have the opportunity to have somebody, that being the prosecutors and the police, say we believe you.””I think from an outsider’s view, it looks like a victory,” said defense attorney Bill Gallagher, Schmidt’s defense attorney. “Obviously though, someone just lost a husband to being incarcerated and a father.”The judge is ordering a presentence investigation before sentencing Schmidt on the gross sexual imposition conviction. In the meantime, Schmidt has been taken into custody.
A jury has reached a verdict on several charges in a trial for a former youth sports coach from Mason accused of child sex crimes.
Prosecutors say Eric Schmidt raped a 12-year-old girl and had sexual contact with another.
Schmidt was charged with one count of rape, two counts of gross sexual imposition and two counts of public indecency.
Both alleged victims were 12 years old at the time.
Prosecutors say the victims were not members of his teams; however, they say one of the sex crimes took place at a party where football parents were present.
Schmidt was found guilty of gross sexual imposition for molesting a 12-year-old at a football party in 2019. Children and adults who were at the party testified that Schmidt showed up drunk and was drinking straight from a bottle of Grey Goose.
The mother of the 12-year-old victim spoke with WLWT Friday evening, on her way home from dropping her daughter back off at an Illinois treatment facility where she is receiving specialized trauma therapy.
“She has been diagnosed with PTSD, depression, anxiety and an eating disorder,” she said. “Nobody thinks that this could happen to them, certainly not by a close family friend.”
The mother said her family is content with one guilty verdict and relieved that her daughter can now solely focus on her recovery.
“We knew that the rape charge was going to be a hard one to prove since no one had seen that, but at least her voice was heard and there is some justice,” she said. “She’s amazing. She’s a rock star, and I just love her to death.”
Deliberations lasted part of Thursday and Friday in Warren County.
On Friday afternoon, a judge read aloud Schmidt’s verdict. The jury found Schmidt guilty of one gross sexual imposition charge, not guilty of rape and not guilty of one of the public indecency charges. The jury is hung on counts four and five — gross sexual imposition and public indecency.
“I think anytime you have a trial like this and you bring in the victims and you allow them to tell their story, even in those cases where you don’t get a guilty verdict, I think there is a measure of justice done,” said Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell. “They have the opportunity to have somebody, that being the prosecutors and the police, say we believe you.”
“I think from an outsider’s view, it looks like a victory,” said defense attorney Bill Gallagher, Schmidt’s defense attorney. “Obviously though, someone just lost a husband to being incarcerated and a father.”
The judge is ordering a presentence investigation before sentencing Schmidt on the gross sexual imposition conviction. In the meantime, Schmidt has been taken into custody.