Schuler charges
• Charged with 16 counts of felony sexual battery
• Charged with three misdemeanor counts for alcohol offenses
• Faced a maximum of 81 years in prison; was given 48 months in prison
• Must register as a sex offender upon release
WARREN COUNTY — The mother of a former student of sex offender Stacy Schuler says her family has been destroyed by the former Mason High School teacher’s behavior with her son.
“She played on (the students’) emotions and she crossed the line,” the mother said. “These events have changed him greatly, not only in his relationships with girls, but in addition toward society as a whole. It broke our hearts to hear him say he lost faith in authority figures and how hypocritical they are. He lost faith in God and thinks people are evil.”
Schuler, a former physical education teacher, was found guilty Thursday of having sex with five former students, who were football players and underage at the time, in her Springboro home in fall 2010. She also gave them alcohol.
She was sentenced to 48 months in prison for the crimes.
Schuler, 33, could be out by judicial release in six months. Warren County Common Pleas Judge Robert Peeler said in court Thursday that he believes Schuler suffers psychological and substance-abuse issues, but he couldn’t buy her insanity defense.
Two Mason High School students were at the courthouse Thursday to support Schuler. Lauren Robertson, 17, is a senior who had Schuler for health freshman year. She said she knew Schuler had mental health issues because she used to relay bizarre stories about stalking and such to her students. Still, she said she would rather see Schuler get help rather than go to prison.
“I’m a little bit of everything right now, I have mixed emotions,” Robertson said. “She deserves punishment especially because she’s a teacher so you don’t want teachers to think they can do this and not receive punishment, but at the same time I don’t want to see her go to prison... I feel sorry for the families and I feel like I should say yes it was fair, but on behalf of her I feel like she needs something different from prison, she needs help.”
Jimmy Kinderdine, a 16-year-old junior, said Mason High School had to block a local television station’s blog of the trial this week because so many students were distracted by the court events. He didn’t know Schuler personally, but felt he should be there.
“Not that I have anything against the guys, but if there were going to be people in the courtroom, she would have the least amount of people and honestly I don’t think she is just some lady who had sex with some people,” he said. “I think there was obviously something going on. It turned out she was wrong, but she obviously had some problems.”
Before Schuler’s sentencing Thursday, the father of one of the victims tearfully addressed Peeler. He said his son has lost two friends he has played football with since fourth grade over the scandal. The casehas wrecked havoc in his own and other’s lives, he said.
“This has impacted the other parents and grandparents, siblings and friends,” the father said.
“To have them have to stand up and testify in front of their parents, it has disrupted the school district it has been a disruption and distraction for the entire community.”
Staff Writers Denise G. Callahan and Ed Richter contributed to this report.