While the law aimed to prevent dating violence by creating civil protection orders between minors, a Hamilton JournalNews investigation has found that in Butler County, they are being requested largely as a way to resolve disputes between youths of the same gender.
Among the newspaper’s findings:
• In Butler County, 40 of the 77 requests were made from females.
• Of the 77 requests, 15 were granted by the courts, five are still in the process.
• Most of the alleged offenders in Montgomery County are 16- and 17-year-olds, but 21 of them have been 12 or younger. The youngest was 9.
• In Warren County, it’s not uncommon for juveniles who have orders issued against them to seek counter orders.
Rob Clevenger, the Butler County Juvenile Court administrator, said court authorities thought more requests would be made after the law was passed.
“We did anticipate the number would be higher,” Clevenger said. “But the number has not been what we thought it would be.”
The law has made it relatively easy for people to seek the orders, and some judges question whether perhaps it’s too easy.
“I think we get a fairly significant percentage of the cases we have that ought to be resolved without court intervention,” said Warren County Juvenile Judge Mike Powell. “It really represents a failure of adults to be adults or parents to be parents that some of these things are getting filed.”
A protection order may be granted even if the juvenile has not been charged or convicted of the alleged offense.
Many of the hearings “end up being mediations” where the minors have a chance to work things out, the judges said.
Very few hearings involve issuing an emergency order where there is a threat of imminent danger, they noted.
‘A nightmare’
The parents of 14-year-old Kelsie Krahn felt an emergency order was necessary to protect her after a male classmate allegedly stuck his hand down her shirt and under her bra on a school bus ride home in December.
Daniel and Michelle Brandmeyer pursued the case after Kelsie told them the same 13-year-old boy had been harassing her in the school hallway by putting his hands between her legs when she would try to drink from the water fountain. The boy’s parents could not be reached for comment.
Miami Twp. Police Det. Todd Comer said the boy has not been charged and the case remains under investigation.
The current protection order requires the students to stay 50 feet apart at Miamisburg Middle School unless supervised, but the Brandmeyers don’t think it’s being enforced the way it should be.
Kelsie said the boy still comes in close contact with her on a daily basis, mainly in the hallways and cafeteria. She said she fears him and told the school board recently she has been living “a nightmare.”
“Even though I have (the order), he’s always around,” Kelsie said.
Michelle Brandmeyer said, “You would think a legal document would force their hand to follow it.”
Questions about enforcement
While the civil protection orders affect many school districts, some legal experts said schools are not responsible for enforcing them.
Hollie Reedy, chief legal counsel for the Ohio School Boards Association, said school officials should respect and accommodate the orders, but “it doesn’t mean they have to enforce them. The orders apply to the people named on the order.”
Powell said, “The issuance of the civil protection order doesn’t place any responsibility on the school to see that the order is enforced.”
Staff writer Lauren Pack contributed to this story.
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