Could teacher's sex charges be dropped?

NORWALK — An attorney for a Monroeville Schools social studies teacher accused of engaging in sexual conduct with a student wants her case dismissed with prejudice. That means the state would need to develop new evidence, that is not derived from evidence it already possesses, to refile the charges against Holly Bauer, 42, of the 4100 block of N. Peru Center Road. Conversely, county prosecutor James Sitterly filed a motion on Tuesday, requesting more time for investigation. He wants the case dismissed without prejudice, meaning the charges could be re-filed later. Bauer faces a 16-count indictment, including 14 felonies; among those are three counts of first-degree felony rape. She was placed on leave by the school district after being charged; it wasn't clear what her employment status was on Thursday. Multiple district officials with knowledge of the situation did not respond to requests for comment. Rights violated? Bauer asserted in the motion that her constitutional rights were "clearly violated" when she was forced to provide evidence against herself during a Garrity hearing with the school. In a Garrity hearing, a public employee is compelled to give a statement under the threat of job loss. In other words, the employee must answer questions posed to them or potentially be fired. Any statements made in such a hearing are supposed to be inadmissible, or not accepted, in any court proceedings, according to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Bauer claims statements she made under the threat of termination were then given to the state who used them and evidence obtained as a result of them to initiate a criminal prosecution against her. Motions filed Bauer's attorney, Johnathan McGookey, filed a motion at the end of July to request what is known as a Kastigar hearing. In such a hearing, the state must prove any evidence they intend to use against the defendant must come from a source entirely independent of evidence from a Garrity interview. The state had until Aug. 13 to file its response to Bauer's request for a Kastigar hearing. Assistant county prosecutor Barry Murner filed a request for an extension on Aug. 18, or five days past the deadline. Judge James Conway gave the state until Aug. 28 to file its response. The state once again missed the filing deadline by five days. On Tuesday, the state filed its motion to dismiss the case without prejudice. In response, McGookey filed his motion to convert a Sept. 8 pre-trial to a hearing on the state's dismissal motion. "For cause, defendant seeks to oppose the state's motion to dismiss this matter without prejudice," McGookey's motion states. The motion went on to state the case should be dismissed with prejudice and that the state did not articulate a good cause for dismissal in its motion. Responses McGookey did not have additional comment, saying his motion speaks for itself. Sitterly did not return a message left for him on Tuesday. "Holding Holly Bauer accountable for her actions is a priority for our family," the victim's parent said through their attorney, Leslie Murray. "We believe that she should face justice for what she has done to our son and put our family through," the parent said. "Any officials' actions that have interfered with Holly facing the consequences that she deserves is incredibly disappointing. We hope that those who have failed to keep our son safe in the past do whatever is necessary to bring justice to this situation." It wasn't clear how a potential dismissal of Bauer's criminal charges would impact her continued employment with the district or her state-issued teaching license. Monroeville school board member Greg Schafer said he was precluded from offering a comment on the matter due to potential legal ramifications. He said, generally, that his hope is that justice is served for all involved. The school system's treasurer, Paul DeMarco, did not return multiple messages left for him. DeMarco is listed as the Title IX decision-maker. In an undated Title IX complaint of sexual harassment final determination, DeMarco recommended the punishment of termination be given to Bauer. The local teacher's union president, Scott Bauer, no relation to Holly, said he could not provide a statement on behalf of the union. He said the local union's only participation in the affair is that they called their state representative of the Ohio Education Association. Monroeville Schools superintendent Kristin Kaple-Smith did not return a message left for her.