Former teacher gets probation

PORT CLINTON — A fired Benton-Carroll-Salem Schools teacher — who a judge and a victim's family member both called a predator — was sentenced to probation Wednesday in Ottawa County Common Pleas Court for a sex crime he committed in 2020. Joseph T. Bergman, 68, previously pleaded guilty to a felony count of gross sexual imposition in a plea deal offered to him by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. On Wednesday, visiting Judge Janet Burnside sentenced Bergman to two years probation and ordered that he register as a sex offender for 15 years. He was also mandated to take a psych evaluation at a court-appointed facility. Bergman was convicted of molesting a developmentally disabled co-worker in the spring of 2020. They worked together at Luther Home of Mercy in Williston, and he was previously her teacher at BCS Schools. A sheriff's investigator who investigated the allegations said Bergman raped the young woman. He was initially indicted on two counts of first-degree felony rape and two counts of fourth-degree felony gross sexual imposition. On May 18, Bergman entered a plea of guilty to one count of fourth-degree felony gross sexual imposition and the remaining counts were dropped. Yost, who was appointed special prosecutor after Ottawa County prosecutor James VanEerten recused himself from the case, refused to say why he offered Bergman a plea deal, or why he did not ask for a prison sentence. Questions unanswered Community members expressed concern about the leniency of the sentence, given the nature of the allegations. The Register sent a series of questions to Yost, to his top prosecutor, Carol O'Brien and to Drew Wood, the assistant attorney general Yost named to prosecute Bergman. The questions also were sent to Steven Irwin, Yost's press secretary. Questions posed to the attorney general's office included: • Why they agreed to a plea deal that would result in no prison time • What level of concern there was for other victims referenced in a sheriff's report • If the victim's family was consulted prior the plea being offered and if they agreed Emails and phone calls in reference to the inquiry on Tuesday and Wednesday to Yost and his team went unanswered. O'Brien did speak briefly with a reporter after the sentencing but said she had "been in meetings all day." She asked a reporter to resend the email to her but then was unavailable to take a call later. Reporters who attended the hearing also were unable to interview Wood, who was asked in advance to make himself available, because the courtroom was cleared after the sentencing. Bergman had a troubled work history when he was a teacher that included allegations he abused children at the school. He was fired, and the Ohio Department of Education revoked his teaching license in 2015. A state department resolution states that Bergman engaged in conduct unbecoming to the teaching profession and that he abused children at the school. But like Yost, both the school district and the state education department shrouded details of Bergman's prior misdeeds. The state department used vague language to describe what he had done to children when he was a teacher, and the school district suspended him but later allowed him to return to school after retiring and being rehired so he could collect both a pension and a salary. It's not clear if the school district ever reported the child abuse allegations against Bergman to police or if criminal charges were ever considered after those earlier incidents. The state department resolution cited these reasons for revoking his teacher's license: • January 2014 — Bergman pinched a student's cheek so hard it caused a bruise • May 2013 — Bergman sat on a student's lap, bounced up and down on the student's lap • Between 2011 and 2013 — Bergman had inappropriate interactions with students including, but not limited to, smacking a student on the buttocks and grabbing two students by the belt/belt loop • 2013 — suspended for 10 days for maintaining inappropriate proximity to students, having inappropriate contact with students and making inappropriate and unprofessional comments in the presence of students. The Luther Home, where Bergman went to work after losing his teacher's job, provides residential living and other services for people with developmental disabilities. It's not known if the home conducted any kind of background check or if they knew about Bergman's history of abusing children when it hired him. 'Predatory behavior' Although the state did not oppose probation Burnside mentioned at sentencing the seriousness of the crime given that he knew the victim. "This is predatory behavior," Burnside said. "This conduct is betraying a relationship that you have, that's why it is more serious. People drop their guard around people they know." Wood read statements from the victim and her sister. According to the victim's statement, she was "worried, nervous, afraid and angry as a result of the attack" and was "having difficulties concentrating and focusing on work after it happened." She indicated she "wants the judge to make this person stay away from me and my family, send this person to jail and send the person to a counselor to get help." The judge did not comply with her request for jail time. In her statement to the court, the victim's sister suggested management at the Luther Home blamed her sister, not Bergman, for what happened. "The way Luther Home of Mercy handled it made her feel like she was wrong and made it seem like a normal activity," according to the sister's statement, which was read by Wood. "How does someone who's her teacher do something like this to her? He wants power over others. He is a predator. She saw him as a teacher, not as a disgusting predator trying to get his needs met." Bergman made a statement to the court apologizing for his behavior. "I still can't believe I let myself be roped into my conduct," Bergman said. "I can't believe what I did. I'm sorry to my family, her family and her." Prior to the sentencing, longtime local activist Elsebeth Baumgartner led a rally outside the courthouse. She said the public had concerns about the safety of victims and the injustice of such a light sentence. "We have the ability to really, really look out for one another and make things better," Baumgartner said. "While we have an adult victim here, she really is a 12 year old in terms of mental and emotional state. "The crime he committed is far worse than the typical case of gross sexual imposition. He did abuse his position as a former teacher. She is very vulnerable and fragile. He had knowledge of all that, he groomed her. He abused his position within the institution."