Ohio Teacher Gets Probation for Sex with Student - Updated

(Hamilton County, Ohio) Earlier today, in accordance with a plea agreement, former Winton Woods High School teacher Mary Ems, 44, was sentenced to probation by Common Pleas Court Judge Melba Marsh.

In addition to two years of probation, Ems is required to surrender her teaching credentials, attend counseling and take random lie-detector tests since Judge Marsh wants to make sure that she won't be working with minors.

Ems, 44, of Springfield Township, cried throughout much of the proceeding, fearful Marsh would jail her and keep her from her two children.

That was an issue for the judge who said she didn't want to interrupt Ems' home life by preventing her from attending her children's sporting and other events because minors would be there.

That's why she requires Ems to randomly submit to polygraph tests to see if her attitude and behavior toward sex acts with minors is changing.

Judge Marsh promised to send Ems to jail for the maximum if she violates her probation. Since Ems was convicted of misdemeanor sexual conduct with a minor, the maximum would be 180 days in jail. Presumably, failing the polygraph is considered a violation.

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Ohio Teacher Guilty of Sex with Student
[Previous 9/17/09 post]
(Forest Park, Ohio) In March 2009, a special education teacher at Winton Woods High School, Mary Ems, resigned her teaching position following allegations that she engaged in sex with an 18-year-old male student she was tutoring.

In August, 44-year-old Ems was charged with misdemeanor unlawful sex with a minor.

Ems, a divorced mother of two, was not charged with felony sexual battery, the crime alluded to in the police report. If she had been charged and convicted of that, she would have had to report as a sex offender, said Julie Wilson, spokeswoman for the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office.

The victim also would have had to testify, something he is reluctant to do, school and police officials have said.

Instead, Ems' attorney and prosecutors reached an agreement on the misdemeanor sex charge, which holds a maximum sentence of six months upon conviction but no requirement to report as an offender. The charge refers to having sex with a child between the ages of 13 and 16.

On Tuesday (9/15), Ems pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a minor. Her sentencing has been scheduled for October 29. Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Melba Marsh said she will probably get probation.