Court of Appeals rejects error claims in Clapsaddle case

By ALEC KELLER

Times staff writer

A former Kenton High School teacher who was convicted by jury trial on sex crimes had his appeal rejected by The Ohio Third District Court of Appeals.

Dustin Clapsaddle, 35, of Kenton, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the charges of rape, sexual battery, gross sexual imposition, and kidnapping, attempted to appeal his sentence which was filed on his behalf by attorney, Karin Coble. After review by the Court of Appeals, his sentence and conviction was upheld.

Clapsaddle’s appeal detailed five errors in the ruling for review by the Court of Appeals. Each of which were addressed in the ruling. One of the errors the defense tried to address was the matter of insufficient evidence.

However, the Court of Appeals responded that in the first assignment of error, Clapsaddle claims the gross sexual imposition verdict was unsupported by sufficient evidence.

The document also detailed that during his interview with a witness, Detective Dan Kemmere of the Kenton Police Department, in which Clapsaddle never mentioned a “lengthy” Snapchat message he allegedly received from the victim. The Court of Appeals said the defendant did not show that his defense attorneys at trial rendered “ineffective assistance.”

“Although we acknowledge that the victim had some credibility issues, including inconsistencies in her statements to law enforcement and at trial, those issues do not rise to the level necessary for us to find that the jury clearly lost its way and created a manifest miscarriage of justice,” the appellate court said.

The Court of Appeals overruled each error and affirmed the judgment of the Hardin County Common Pleas Court at costs to the appellant.

Clapsaddle is currently serving a 10-year-prison sentence at the Richland Correctional Institution in Mansfield, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.