RELATED: Case dropped against Indian Lake superintendent, will go to grand jury
He was booked on charges of rape-victim under 13, rape compels and sexual battery, according to jail officials.
Patrick O’Donnell has served as the Indian Lake Schools superintendent for seven years. The school board has placed him on unpaid leave and have begun the process to terminate him, according to a news release from the board. The alleged victim in the case wasn’t a student at the district.
Heather O’Donnell faces two counts of child endangerment, according to jail officials.
Patrick O’Donnell’s attorney, Peter DeSomma, didn’t return a phone call requesting comment on Tuesday evening.
Earlier charges against Patrick O’Donnell filed in Bellefontaine Municipal Court were dismissed, which Washington Twp. Police Chief Rick Core said was pending an indictment from the grand jury.
The Springfield News-Sun was the first to publish information in an affidavit filed against Patrick O’Donnell in Bellefontaine Municipal Court. In it, police allege he touched a girl inappropriately, including her private parts. Police said the girl told them the alleged incidents had occurred several times over a three-year span.
MORE: Indian Lake places superintendent on unpaid leave
Also in the affidavit, police alleged Heather O’Donnell knew about the accusations before but didn’t report them to police. The victim allegedly told her at least twice, the affidavit says.
“(Heather O’Donnell) told me that she had confronted Mr. O’Donnell about it and he downplayed the incidents as accidents that may have happened while wrestling,” Core says in the affidavit.
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