Wednesday, February 17, 1999
Teacher waives right to speedy trial
Sides reach deal on bond in sex case
BY TOM O'NEILL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
John Walker
|
BATAVIA — Suspended Batavia High School teacher John Walker waived his right to a speedy trial Tuesday and agreed to a nearly four-fold bond increase on the additional 44 sex-related charges he faces.
For an hour after his arraignment in Clermont County Common Pleas Court was scheduled to begin, Mr. Walker, 45, of Batavia sat quietly in the back row with a relative.
Meanwhile, his attorney, Martin Pinales, went back and forth from Mr. Walker to chambers, where he and special prosecutor Rick Gibson reached the agreement.
Both attorneys declined comment Tuesday, as did Mr. Walker.
Mr. Walker, who is accused of beginning improper relationships with girls while they were students at the school, faces 45 counts of sexual battery, including the ini tial charge for which he was held, then released on $20,000 bond. It was increased Tuesday to $75,000.
Twenty-seven of the 44 counts added last week each could bring a sentence of life in prison, the result of a January 1997 law that might require Mr. Walker — if convicted — to register as a violent sexual offender.
He pleaded not guilty Tuesday. A pretrial hearing is set for March 26.
The agreement was ironed out only two courtrooms down from that of Mr. Walker's brother, Judge William Walker. The conflict prompted Clermont County prosecutors to bring in Mr. Gibson, a Hamilton County assistant prosecutor. Retired Butler County Judge George Elliott oversaw Tuesday's agreement.
John Walker remains suspended from school without pay. Batavia High Principal Dave Gibson (no relation to the prosecutor) said after the agreement, “We're making an effort to make things, quote, normal,” but he added that many at the school “are still in a state of shock.”
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