Rodney Curtis gets prison for sex at child care center

ZANESVILLE - The girl struggled through tears and nerves as she asked a judge to impose a harsh sentence on a man she said took advantage of her vulnerability.

A man, she said, who manipulated her into not disclosing their sexual rendezvous with authorities.

And a man, she said, who drove her to depression and thoughts of suicide.

That man, 34-year-old Rodney A. Curtis, was sentenced to an 11-year prison term for 13 counts of sex crimes with the girl, who lived at a center for children where he worked for more than five years.

The girl, 14 years old at the time, arrived at the Avondale Youth Center in 2014 and, soon after, said Curtis befriended her.

"He was really nice and made me feel comfortable," the girl said Monday in Muskingum County Common Pleas Court as she read from a letter she wrote. "He paid attention to me when I felt so alone."

The Times Recorder does not identify victims of sexual crimes.

The relationship then escalated, and soon, Curtis began requesting pictures of the girl in various states of undress, she said, and they began meeting on Avondale property for sexual conduct.

"I knew what we were doing was wrong," the girl said.

She became depressed as she fretted over what people would think if they found out; she said Curtis pressured her to keep their relationship a secret, afraid of what would happen to his wife and children if he went to prison.

"He manipulated me into thinking everything was OK when it wasn't," she said. "I couldn't live with myself and the pain any longer."

She decided to come forward, both for herself and the other victims who could fall prey to Curtis or someone like him, she said in court. But the trauma of what she went through still haunts her to this day, she said.

For his part, an emotional Curtis apologized to the girl and to Avondale for his conduct.

"I'm just so sorry," he said through tears. His family and friends packed the courtroom behind him. Many of them wrote letters to Judge Kelly Cottrill on his behalf.

After authorities investigated the case for months, a Muskingum County grand jury indicted Curtis on 74 charges in March: 63 counts of illegal use of a minor involved in nudity-oriented material, a second-degree felony; and 11 counts of sexual battery, a third-degree felony.

The prosecutor's office dismissed the majority of those charges in exchange for Curtis' guilty plea in October to 10 counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity oriented material and three counts of sexual battery.

Child care worker admits to sex crimes with girl, 15

Although a prison sentence was not mandatory, he could have faced a maximum 95-year term.

Prosecutors did not recommend a sentence for Curtis as part of the plea deal, instead deferring to the judge.

Cottrill imposed seven years in prison on each second-degree felony, all to run concurrently. He imposed an additional 48 months in prison on each third-degree felony, also to run concurrently to each other, but consecutively to the seven-year term.

He was credited with the time in jail he has already served.

"I don't think you have any concept of what your selfishness and self-indulgent behavior causes to a 14-year-old girl," Cottrill told Curtis after handing down the sentence.

Curtis, who's been an inmate at the county jail since his March indictment, will have to register as a sexual offender every 90 days for the rest of his life. As part of that requirement, he must give three days of notice before he changes vehicles, his address or his telephone number.

Curtis's attorney, Shawn Dingus, had requested a lower sentence, citing Curtis' community ties, two young children and genuine remorse.

"He knows what he did was heinous and deplorable," Dingus said during the hearing. "He is genuinely, and I mean genuinely, remorseful."

But prosecutors condemned Curtis' "conniving" and "deceitful" actions as he used his position of authority to take advantage of a troubled child.

"He was supposed to be providing guidance, but instead of using his position to help, he used it to commit terrible offenses and abuse a child," said Assistant County Prosecutor Ron Welch during the sentencing hearing. "He made the decision to be a sexual predator hundreds of times."

The victim was a resident at the Avondale Youth Center, where Curtis had been employed since 2010 as a child care worker.

Founded in 1911, the Youth Center on Roseville Road serves as a therapeutic intervention center for youths between ages 10 and 18 who have been abused or neglected. Children at the center have often been diagnosed with mental health disorders and emotional problems.

It's a division of the Muskingum County Adult and Child Protective Services and is licensed by the state.

Prosecutors said Curtis developed a relationship with the girl when she entered the facility. Curtis, who held a supervisory role over the girl, would often comment on her physical appearance and intelligence, and others who worked at the facility noted an unusual relationship between the pair.

The investigation revealed they engaged in sexual conduct multiple times between April and July 2014 in a variety of places, both on and off the premises.

Detectives with the Muskingum County Sheriff's Office seized Curtis' phone with a search warrant in August 2014 and discovered 101 pictures of the victim in various states of undress, 18 taken by Curtis himself. Most of the pictures were on Avondale property or in county-owned vehicles.

"Any sentence involving a child victim never seems sufficient," Welch told the Times Recorder. "We certainly felt that the circumstances in this case could have justified a larger sentence, but in situations where we defer to the court, we respect and accept the results."

elagatta@zanesvilletimesrecorder.com

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Twitter: @EricLagatta