Ohio Teacher Gets Prison in Sex Case - Updated

(New Philadelphia, Ohio)

Former Newcomerstown elementary teacher Jodi A. Kellish, once lauded as an exemplary teacher and community member, was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison for having sex with a teenager.

Kellish, 38, also will be required to register as a sex offender for the next 25 years. Those requirements include making a personal appearance every 180 days to her local sheriff’s department.

Formerly of Port Washington, Kellish, who has been residing in Dover, was led from the Common Pleas courtroom of Judge Elizabeth Lehigh Thomakos in handcuffs Monday following a one-hour sentencing hearing.

Kellish was escorted from the courtroom in handcuffs, destined for the Ohio Reformatory for Women at Marysville.

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Ohio Teacher Convicted in Sex Case
[Previous 11/2/12 post]
(New Philadelphia, Ohio) A 38-year-old former elementary school teacher, Jodi A. Kellish, was convicted this week of unlawful sexual conduct and contributing to the delinquency of a high school student.

Kellish pleaded no contest to the charges before Common Pleas Judge Elizabeth Lehigh Thomakos.

Thomakos agreed to requests for a pre-sentence investigation from special prosecutor Daniel G. Padden of Cambridge and Kellish’s attorney, Christopher DeLaCruz.

Kellish will be sentenced on the reduced charges during a hearing on Jan. 3, 2013.

The three sexual battery charges (one of which was reduced; the two others were dismissed Monday) all involved the same Newcomerstown High student, according to Detective Capt. Orvis Campbell of the Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office.

Kellish will also reportedly be required to register as a sexual offender for 25 years.