Family of teen victim calls attention to release of molester

MONROEVILLE — The family of a 14-year-old sex crime victim is calling attention to the release of her molester from prison.Joseph J. Claus, 42, is slated for release from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction this weekend, according to online records. That fulfills a 17-month sentence — just shy of the maximum possible sentence — that a Huron County judge handed down in February 2016.Claus is now set to continue five years under post-release control, in line with that sentence. He's also set to register as a Tier 1 sex offender for 15 years.Tier 1 is considered the lowest level of sex offender under state law.Those conditions come as some comfort to the victim's mother, who is not being named so not to identify her daughter. She said she decided to take action herself, by publicizing Claus' release on social media, in conjunction with Bikers Against Abused and Neglected Children, out of concern for the safety of her own daughter and for other area children."I want his face everywhere," she said. "I want every parent that sees that to remember his face so that he can't do that to another child."Bikers Against Abused and Neglected Children, an Ohio-based nonprofit that organized in 2010, supported and advocated for the victim as the case against Claus moved through Huron County Court of Common Pleas. Co-founder Joe "Mojo" Jenkins said he, too, sees value in calling community attention to recently released convicts like Claus."This puts it out in the open," Jenkins said.Bikers Against Abused and Neglected Children regularly shares information about local child abuse and neglect cases, including the release of related defendants, on its Facebook page.Claus is convicted of inappropriately touching the victim, then a sleeping 13-year-old, over her clothes while she was at a sleepover with a friend in October 2015, as reported by the Norwalk Reflector. Claus pleaded guilty to one count of gross sexual imposition, a fourth-degree felony, and an amended but not reduced charge, in December 2015. Sentencing followed in February, according to court records.Huron County Public Defender David Longo, who represented Claus, said that a fourth-degree felony carries a possible prison term of up to 18 months. Had the judge handed down the maximum 18-month sentence, he said, Claus would have had an automatic right to appeal.Court records indicate that a judge denied Claus' motion for judicial release last year. Factoring in the time he spent in custody prior to his sentencing, his release this month completes the full 17-month sentence.Although Longo can understand the family's perspective, he said, he emphasized that Claus served "every day of what was essentially a maximum sentence.""There's really nothing more that anyone can ask of him at this point," Longo said. "He has paid his debt."While the victim's mother acknowledged that Claus served close to the maximum sentence, she said she felt state laws should be changed to enable stricter sentences in cases like her daughter's. She said she is primarily concerned that her daughter continues to feel safe once Claus is released."She has her good days and her bad days, but she's a fighter," she said of her daughter. "Generally she has a very positive outlook on everything."Claus does not appear to have any prior criminal convictions.Online records indicate that his nursing license was revoked following his conviction. He had been disciplined once previously, in 2011, according to these records; an Ohio Board of Nursing document indicates that a patient complained that he "failed to maintain professional boundaries."Reach reporter Nicki Gorny at gorny@sanduskyregister.com and follow her on Twitter @Nicki_Gorny.Joseph Claus