Kettering school board member charged

The alleged incident happened in Trent’s neighborhood around 9 a.m. on Sept. 13, according to a police report and court records.

A statement of facts written by a Kettering Police Detective included in court records said Trent demanded a hug and kiss from a female friend. The detective wrote, “The female responded with a polite hug and kiss on the cheek, but Trent tried to keep her in an embrace and kiss her more aggressively.”

The statement continued that Trent, “also grabbed and squeezed the female’s buttocks during this encounter” and that the female was offended by Trent’s actions and demanded that he leave the premises immediately.

Kettering Police Chief James O’Dell said the incident happened at the alleged victim’s home.

The female reported Trent’s alleged behavior to family members and called Kettering Police.

“When interviewed by the police, Trent confessed to his inappropriate actions and apologized for his behavior,” the detective wrote .

The alleged victim contacted police three days after the incident.

“It’s traumatic and when you are a young adult male or female, I think it’s traumatic and you think through and I think you seek guidance from people,” O’Dell said. “A number of times, victims can be punished for coming forward and speaking. So, I believed that she talked with her parents and they encouraged her and she had the courage to come forward.”

Trent, whom the James S. Trent Arena is named after, did not return phone calls placed by the Dayton Daily News or WHIO-TV.

George Bayless, the school board’s president said he was shocked by the allegations .

“I am dumbfounded. I have known Jim Trent for many years, served with him since 2001 on the Kettering Board of Education. I am just really completely surprised,” Bayless said.

O’Dell said he has been police chief in Kettering for nearly 30 years and doesn’t recall ever hearing any complaints like this against Trent, who is married, in the past.

Trent’s current term on the school board expires in 2015. He is a former teacher and superintendent of the district and has served on the school board for nearly 20 years, most of those years as board president.

The charges against Trent came two weeks after longtime Clayton City Councilman Robert E. Peters was charged with disorderly conduct after he allegedly fondled a breast of a Northmont City Schools administrative employee during a visit to the district’s office on Aug. 30.

Peters, 82, entered a plea of not guilty per his attorney Richard Skelton. A pre-trial hearing has been requested, but no hearing date had been scheduled as of Friday afternoon.

Peters is a retired owner of an excavating business and a former Randolph Township trustee and has been a councilman since 1978. He is seeking re-election on the Nov. 5 ballot.