Teacher Targeted Teen Babysitter in Twisted Sex Scheme

A former Ohio middle school teacher is. headed for a very different day-to-day. environment. She is going to prison. Stephanie Eron Kellenberger admitted to. grooming a young teen girl for sex and. her scheming went on for years. But now. that she's entered a guilty plea, we are. taking a look at her sentencing and. whether the punishment fits the crime. And we're going to break it down with a. former Ohio Deputy Attorney General. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and. Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. [Music].

Stephanie Erin Kellenburgger did not. have a good birthday this year. No. Instead of celebrating with family and. friends, just one day before she turned. 41, she was in a Richland, Ohio. courtroom to learn her fate for sexually. abusing a teenager. The sixth grade. teacher's birthday was on Tuesday, October 7th, according to the Richland. source. And the outlet reports that she. taught English and language arts in the. Shelby City School District since 2015. But back in August, Kellenburgger. entered a guilty plea to a staggering 21.

felony counts which were filed against. her in Richland County last year. The. baiff for Judge Brent Robinson's. courtroom told the Richland source that. she admitted to four counts of sexual. battery and 17 counts of unlawful sexual. conduct with a minor. And the victim in. all of this, the teenage babysitter of. Kellenburgger's own daughter. This is. according to the New York Post. So, to. discuss how we got here, to discuss the. investigation before Kellenburgger was. officially sentenced, I want to welcome.

back on to Sidebar uh former prosecutor. uh and Ohio Deputy Attorney General Mark. Weaver. Thank you so much, uh for coming. on. It's really good to see you. Um you. know, we are seeing more and more of. these cases involving teachers, praying. on young people, praying on students. How much experience do you have with. these cases? Is it more common now? Are. you seeing it more and more? >> It feels more common. I do have. experience sadly. I've prosecuted cases. like this.

>> Perhaps it's more common because the. ability of teachers and students to. interact outside the classroom is just. different than it was. >> decades ago. Social media is so. ubiquitous with young people. Some. teachers share their social media handle. or their phone number with students, which I think is a is a red flag as a. parent myself, but the ability of. teacher and student to interact outside. the classroom is greater than it ever. has been before. And that often leads to. good things like maybe encouraging you.

for your track meet or for going for. that Eagle Scout certification, but also. has the potential for some bad things. like grooming and sexual conduct. Um, we'll get more into this plea deal, but. is it were you surprised to hear her ple. pleading guilty to 21 counts to avoid a. trial in a case like this, or does it. suggest to you she didn't have much of a. defense? >> She didn't have much of a defense, but. there was an agreed recommended. sentence. We'll talk about that in a.

moment. >> I think there may be some some concerns. with this victim going a little bit. sideways, as we say in the prosecution. business, but let's get into the. sentence. Let's if you want to set it up. and have it talk to you about how we. think how I think we got there. >> That's a good point. Okay. So, here's. what we know. According to the Richland. source, Shelby City Superintendent. Michael Browning got a call that. allegations had been made against a. middle school teacher and Kellenburgger. was put on administrative leave in. February of 2024. The superintendent. sent her a letter stating, "This letter.

is to inform you that you are being. placed on paid administrative leave. effective today, Wednesday, February. 28th, 2024, pending further. investigation of certain matters related. to your employment. During this period. of administrative leave, you are. assigned to your home during school. hours. During this time, you must be. available by telephone, available to. perform work if requested to do so, and. available to cooperate with the board of. education's investigation." She was also. banned from school events. The letter. says until further written notice, you. are not to attend school, school.

functions, or engage in school related. extracurricular activities, whether on. Shelby City School District property or. any other location. You're also. prohibited from accessing school. equipment, computers, or services. During this period of administrative. leave, you are cautioned not to. communicate in any matter with your. students, their parents, or other. individuals who could be witnesses to. the pending investigation. Now, the but. then the superintendent sent another. letter months later letting her know.

that they needed to bring in a new. teacher so they had enough educators to. go around. In May of 2024, Superintendent Browning wrote, "While. you're still on paid administrative. leave, the district must begin planning. for the next school year. There is. uncertainty about when the investigation. will be completed, when the school can. begin its Title 9 investigation, and how. long these processes will take. Because. of the uncertainty, you are notified. that the sixth grade teaching position. you currently hold will be filled to. ensure continuity and allow teachers to.

collaborate over the summer months as. they plan for the next school year." and. the superintendent assured her or. seemingly assured her that she still had. a job, said that she could come to the. school in June to collect any personal. belongings. Now, let's start right. there, Mark. Is that a typical response? Some would say, my gosh, based on these. allegations, why wasn't she just fired? Why put her on administrative leave? >> Putting a teacher on administrative. leave is a typical response. Remember, in at least Ohio, these are unionized.

teachers, so they have contract rights. under the collective bargaining. agreement. But I will say this, many. months of waiting, that's not typical. I. have come alongside, not as a. prosecutor, but as a private attorney, I've come alongside school districts who. have allegations against teachers of a. sexual nature. The moment there's any. credible evidence that this illegal. behavior has occurred, the school. district can take action, notify the. employee that they're going to terminate. them. I was surprised at how long it.

took for them to get around to. disciplining this teacher. Many, many. months is not typical. >> By the way, you know why we're able to. bring you stories like this? It's not. only because of the amazing support from. you all out there, but also from our. incredible sponsor, Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm, a. firm with over a,000 attorneys. You know. why they're so big? Because they win a. lot. They have recovered over $25. billion for more than 500,000 clients. In the past few months, a client in. Florida received $12 million after the.

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by clicking the link below or scanning. the QR code on screen. Well, let me ask you this. Have you seen. a situation before where someone is. accused of wrongdoing in a school, right, of sexually abusing a student, let's say, the case is either dropped, the person is found not guilty, and then. they can remain a teacher at that. school. >> I've not worked on a case like that, but. I'm sure it's happened. We all know. there are some small number of false.

allegations. This is going to come down. to what did the superintendent and. school board know from the prosecutor. If the Richland County prosecutor kept. it very close to the vest and didn't. offer any evidence about what they were. uncovering, then it might be. understandable that it's going to take. several months. But if the. superintendent and the school board had. any information that this may be. happening, there is no good reason why. you continue to pay this person because. administrative leave is paid leave. There's no good reason to keep them on. for months if they had credible evidence.

that there was sexual conduct between. this teacher and a 13-year-old. You said. a teenager earlier earlier. That's true. A 13-year-old child. >> So, the Richland source reports that. Kellenburgger was indicted on 21 felony. counts on September 26th that she. resigned from her teaching position two. weeks later. The Mansville police, they. investigated these allegations because. the incidents occurred within the city. limits at Kelenburgger's home. And. prosecutors say that she started. grooming a young girl who had also been,

as we mentioned, her family's babysitter. whom so from the time she was 13 until. she turned 16. That Kellenburgger. started having sex with this girl at her. home when she was 14 years old. This is. according to prosecutors. And on August. 1st, Kellenburgger appeared in court to. change her plea from not guilty to. guilty. According to reporting from the. New York Post, prosecutors gave her two. options when it came to her punishment. She could serve 12 years flat prison.

time or 15 years with the possibility of. release after 10 years if she behaved. herself behind bars. She chose the. second option and the judge took that. recommendation into consideration. Now, after the plea hearing, a pre-sentencing. investigation got underway. Mark, let's. go back to the conversation we had. before about a plea deal. Is that. typical to offer two options to a. defendant here? And again, going back to. the idea of pleading guilty to 21. counts. Now, we've added a little bit.

more understanding here and a little. more context. What are you taking away. from it? >> As a prosecutor, when I have good. evidence, I have more leverage to get a. better deal with the defense council. So, I have presented defense council. with two different options, but they're. almost always in the same range from one. another, or they're helping me get to an. outcome that I think will be just for. the state of Ohio, which is who I. represent, and the victim, who I don't. represent, but I want to consult with. In this case, there's some indication to. believe that the victim did not want a.

serious uh sentence for this sex. offender. That could have been a problem. had this gone to trial because the jury. may have picked up on that. >> Mentioned defense before. So according. to Kellenburgger's attorney, James Meyer. III, quote, "Consent was never an issue. It's an age thing." What does that mean? >> Well, in Ohio, when a teacher is having. sex with a student, there's two. different charges that can be brought. They're not rape charges. One is called.

sexual battery, thirdderee felony. And. the other one is unlawful sexual conduct. with a minor, also a thirdderee felony. The elements are slightly different. In. unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, that's an age thing. That's an adult. having sex with a child. In sexual. battery, it's a power thing. You're a. teacher. You're a coach. You're a. parent. You're in some authority figure. over the person you're having sex with. who's underage. And that is less of an. age thing because the elements are.

student teacher, not adult child. >> But by the way, I mentioned uh after she. plead guilty, there was this. pre-sentencing investigation. What is. that? What is that investigation? Who do. investig investigators talk to? How does. it work? In almost all felony cases, before a judge will enter a sentence, unless it's a mandatory sentence where. the judge has absolutely no authority. and must enter the mandatory sentence, the judge will ask the probation. department, the adult probation. department to interview the victim,

interview the defendant, and interview. the employer and the family of the. defendant and try to give the judge a. sense of who this person is. And there's. good information for the defense and bad. information in there, aggravating and. mitigating. It's almost like a little. book report, if you will, on the. defendant and the probation department. will sometimes make a recommendation. More typically, they're just giving the. judge the facts who can make a decision. about what sentencing is. So, it's. called a PSI for short, pre-sensing.

investigation. Uh, we as the prosecutor. get to review it usually the day of the. sentencing. It's not a public record, but it's something the prosecutor and. the defense council are allowed to look. at. And it informs the judge's thinking. ahead of the sentencing hearing where. other people can then testify in open. court. I I imagine it also takes into. consideration the victim and also maybe. interviewing the victim. The reason I. say that is because Richland County. prosecutor Jod Schumacher uh told the. Richland source, quote, "The minor, the.

student was blaming herself." Because of. that, she did not necessarily want to. see the defendant, in the victim's. words, ruin her for the rest of her. life. She did not want her to go to. prison for the rest of her life. And in. fact, according to Schumacher, the. victim apparently wanted Kellenburgger. to only get three years in prison. Now, the judge didn't agree with that. Thought it was too short of a sentence. We'll talk about what the judge imposed. Uh Mark, you mentioned before that one. of the considerations here going into.

trial might have been the victim here. Um how much Let's start here. How much. does a victim's wishes play into a. judge's decision in cases like this when. it comes to sentencing? >> Prosecutors and judges should listen to. victims. Uh these the in this case, this. now an adult was a child, but this. person has gone through a very traumatic. time. And as a prosecutor, I always care. about what the victim has to say. In. fact, in Ohio, at least, the state. constitution requires that victims have.

a voice in every substantive hearing or. trial that happens in their case. But I. often had to remind victims that this is. not their case. This is the state of. Ohio versus, not you. You may have a. civil action against them. You want to. sue them for battery or something else. Then it's your case. you get to decide. the outcome to the extent that you can. But in a criminal case, I represent 11. and a half million people, the state of. Ohio, and I've got to make a decision. that's best for them. And what's so sad.

about this case, Jesse, to me, is the. grooming and the the uh the sexual power. over this child who's now an adult still. impacts this person's thinking today. where this victim thinks that somehow. she's at fault and that uh the predator. who prayed on her perhaps ought to not. go to prison for too long. I've seen. that before. Not a lot, but I've seen. that before. And it just shows you how. devious and how insidious this power. position is of predator over victim.

>> No. 100%. And I do wonder though, does. it influence does it affect the. prosecutor's decision to offer a plea to. take this to trial, do you think when. you're listening to this, and we don't. know everything the victim would have. testified to or what she was thinking, but it is quite a statement for the. prosecutor to say that this victim was. blaming herself, wanted limited prison. time. I I think it does suggest what may. have complicated this victim's. testimony. >> Yeah. I mean, I go to prosecutor's.

conferences. Sometimes I speak there, sometimes I'm just a participant. And. when we get together, we talk about. things like this and we have a little. fun with juries. You know, I'll clean up. the language, but we say things like, "Juries can be funny, right? You never. quite know what a juror is going to. think." And when you're the prosecutor, you have to prove beyond a reasonable. doubt not only all the elements of every. charge, but you must get a unanimous. jury to come alongside with you. You. must get all of them. And my fear. sometimes is when my victim doesn't feel. strongly about the case that when I call.

that victim to the stand, either on my. direct examination or on the defense. council's crossexamination, there's going to be this hesitancy about. whether or not this punishment is. appropriate, whether this was really a. crime. And you're never going to. convince 12 jurors that this was not a. crime. But one juror in in his or her. mind could go, you know what, if the. victim doesn't think this was a big. deal, why should I? That's enough to. hang a jury. >> Now, the prosecutor's office said that.

the most important thing that the victim. wanted was for Kellenburgger's teaching. license to be permanently revoked, which. our understanding was it was. Is that. only in Ohio, Mark, or would it be. nationwide? Now, that's only in Ohio, but if this. person were to go apply for a teaching. job elsewhere, that state would get the. records from Ohio. And uh no prudent. school district would hire this person. after this history. But this is a key. part of it. I had prosecution once. against a uh a teacher who was not.

sexually acting out, but was physically. aggressive and abusing students in a way. that was harmful and potentially. harmful. And in the middle of the trial, the defense lawyer wanted to settle. And. I wasn't interested in sending this. teacher to prison, but I did want to. make sure he never taught again. So part. of my resolution was that this person. would withdraw his teaching license and. agree to never teach again because. obviously we want justice for this. crime, but we also want to prevent any. future crimes. >> Now, talking about Kellenburgger, she.

apologized to the teen victim in a. statement at her sentencing hearing on. October 6th. Here's kind of what here's. what she had to say. According to the. Richland source, I know that during this. time, you were just a child and I was an. adult in a position of trust. I'm I'm. resp I'm responsible for everything that. happened between us. I put you in a. position that no 14 or 15year-old should. ever have to be in. I'm so sorry for all. the emotional pain and hurt that I've. caused you. I hope that my guilty pleas. and this sentence will provide some. degree of closure for you as you move on.

with your life." And Kellenberger also. apologized to her family, especially her. daughter, said she fully accepted the. consequences of her actions. And the. defense and the prosecution, they agreed. to that 15-year sentence that I. mentioned before. And while Judge. Robinson wasn't required to accept that. recommendation, he stuck with it. Now, Kellenburgger is required to register as. a tier three sex offender after she gets. out of prison. She has to reregister. every 90 days for the rest of her life.

Mark, were you surprised that the judge. agreed to the 15 years here? And we know. that this is something Kellenburgger. agreed to because there's a possibility. she could get out earlier. So, A, what. do you think of the judge accepting that. recommend accepting that sentence? And. B, can she get out earlier? >> She can get out earlier. She can get out. if she's a model inmate and follows all. the judge's rules. Um, you've got savvy. viewers here at Law and Crime. They may.

know this, but for those who don't, prosecutors and defense council will. often go to the judge back in chambers, not on the record, and say, "Judge, we're thinking about doing this. Can we. take your temperature on whether this. sentence range is going to be okay with. you?" I don't know that happened in that. case, but I know I've done it many. times, and that will give the litigators. a sense of what the judge may be willing. to do. The judge is smart enough to know. that if the prosecution is willing to. settle the case for lesser amount of.

years than than might possibly be given, the judge knows something's up with the. case. Sometimes it's a due process. problem. Sometimes it's an evidentiary. problem. In this case, it's a our victim. doesn't think this is a big deal. problem. And let's I don't want to be. too tough on the prosecutor. U you don't. want to revictimize the victim if you. don't have to. You don't want to put a. child who's now an adult on the stand to. recount the most embarrassing details of. their life in a room full of strangers.

and you want to get the certainty of no. appeal so that that victim doesn't have. to worry about the case coming back for. another trial 2 three four five years. down the road. So I understand why they. did this. I think it's a fair sentence. Would I like to have seen this woman do. more time? I would. But I live in the. world of reality and reality is you have. to settle sometimes. >> And just to focus on this idea of her. being a tier three sex offender, what. does that mean for her life and the. community? >> It means she won't be able to live near.

schools or child care centers. She will. not be able to interact with children. She will have to be checking in with the. sheriff's office every 90 days to make. sure that they still know where she is. If she moves to another town, she will. have to immediately register there. And. any violation of that status is a felony. in itself. I've often joked to my. prosecutor friends, it's the easiest. two-witness case you could ever. prosecute. You know the put somebody on. the stand. Is she a registered sex.

offender? Yes. Put somebody else on the. stand. Did she register with you and. follow the rules? No. Your honor, we. rest our case. It's an easy felony if. she violates any of that. And whatever. judge who has that case will send her. back to prison. And talking about that. sentence, so Richland source reports. that that the judge determined that each. of the 21 counts that Kellberger had. faced equated to 60 months or 5 years in. prison. Counts 1, 2, and three, they're. going to run consecutively, back to. back. Counts four to 21 going to run. concurrently, so at the same time as the.

others, and that is what gets you up to. 15 years. But the judge made sure that. everyone knew that Kellenburgger would. have to be on her absolute best behavior. for the first decade of her sentence. quote, "Don't let anybody be confused. This is a 15-year prison sentence with. the hope that you come back in 10 years. and you've been a model inmate. You've. done everything you were supposed to do. and you haven't gotten any trouble at. all." Mark, that's an important. statement to make by the judge. >> Yes, it is. And and it's it's difficult.

for prisoners to make it through, in. this case, 10 years, and not have any. violations. The smallest little things. in prison can be infractions. And so. only rarely do you see somebody who has. a perfect spotless record in prison. So. if the judge wants, the judge will be. able to hang those extra five years on. this woman. A lot of us would like to. see that happen and the prosecutor has. to live by the recommendations. So I. don't know that the prosecutor would. speak into it, but as somebody on the. outside as the prosecutor, I can say I'm.

rooting for 15 years here. >> Well, once she's released, she's going. to be subject to 5 years of postrelease. control. This is again per the Richland. source. She can't have any contact at. all with the victim. We will see what. will happen with her. But Mark Weaver, thank you so much for taking the time. Really, really appreciate it and giving. your expertise on what is a very. disturbing case. >> Sad case indeed. Always good to be with. you, Jesse. Thank you. >> And that is all we have for you right. now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank. you so much for joining us. And as. always, please subscribe on YouTube,

Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you get. your podcasts. You can follow me on X or. Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll see you. next time. [Music].