![]() ![]() The girl’s father asked that no photos be taken of them and said they would have no comment on the sentence. The jury in Kent’s trial found Kent not guilty of the three sexual battery counts after prosecutors failed to persuade them that Kent coerced a student at Poland Seminary High School to perform sex acts with him on three occasions in 2021 while he was the school resource officer.ĭurkin could have given Kent as many as three years in prison on the third-degree felony conviction.Īs Kent was taken away by sheriff’s deputies, the family of the girl who made the sexual allegations against Kent joined arms emotionally in a circle in the back of the courtroom. 16, trustees Robert Santos and Monica Deavers appointed former township Administrator Mike Dockry to fill Kent’s unexpired term as trustee. The day after Kent was convicted of tampering with evidence, Gina DeGenova, Mahoning County prosecutor, informed Austintown Township officials that the conviction immediately rendered Kent ineligible to keep his seat as township trustee. ![]() Prosecutors maintained that Kent wiped the phone to protect himself from the blooming investigation into the sexual battery charges. Kent testified that he activated the factory reset to protect his daughter, Christina, from seeing things she shouldn’t - related to his affair with Bobbey. The allegations were that he committed the offenses in connection to his position as school resource officer.Īt Kent’s trial, a jury found him not guilty of three counts of sexual battery that came out of the allegations. Prosecutors said Kent did so June 6, 2021, one day after Poland parent Carla Bobbey told Kent a student at the school had made sexual-battery claims against Kent - and that Bobbey intended to notify the authorities and the girl’s father. 14 of the tampering charge, which related to activating the factory reset on his cellphone. Kent, 54, of Starwick Drive, was convicted Aug. I embarrassed the uniform.” He ended with “I apologize. And unfortunately a poor decision as to a factory (cellphone) reset unfortunately impacted the ability of law enforcement to conduct its full investigation,” he said.Īt the point where Kent was allowed to speak to the judge, he said: “I am very embarrassed for my family. I believe that your position of trust as a school resource officer for Poland put you in a very unique position to impact lives. Where our actions impact public trust, you’ve got a problem. He said he agreed with Kara Keating, an Ohio assistant attorney general, who was among the special prosecutors in the case, when Keating said that “as public officials, as police officers, we are - and we should be - held to higher standards.” A deputy put handcuffs on Kent as Judge John Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court completed his sentencing discussion, saying he “could not think of a case where a defendant was convicted of tampering with evidence where the defendant was a police officer.
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