by Steve Wiandt
Reporter
Cuyahoga Falls -- A Cuyahoga Falls Police officer has been ordered to serve one year of probation on a misdemeanor assault charge.
Officer Ralph E. Flynn III, 38, was sentenced May 1 for an incident in his home in June 2007 involving his two daughters, prosecutors said. His Aug. 14 indictment from a Summit County Common Pleas Court grand jury stated Flynn was accused of "recklessly" administering corporal punishment.
Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Mary Spicer also gave Flynn a six-month suspended jail sentence and referred him to Portage Path for assessment for consideration to receive counseling in anger management and parenting skills.
The judge told Flynn he must maintain employment to pay the fines and costs associated with his probation, and to pay for counseling for himself and his daughters, who are 11 and 13. Flynn was put on leave without pay from the Cuyahoga Falls Police Department last summer. Falls Police Chief John Conley had no comment May 1 concerning Flynn's status with the department.
Spicer also said the officer cannot have contact with his two daughters until further notice. He is allowed to remain in contact with his 17-year-old son, but he is not allowed to call him at his mother's house.
Flynn was found guilty of misdemeanor assault March 31 in Summit County Common Pleas Court after he pleaded no contest to the charge, which was reduced from felonious assault.
Three other counts -- endangering children, a third-degree felony; and two instances of domestic violence, first-degree misdemeanors -- were dropped by the state upon Flynn's change of plea from not guilty to felonious assault to no contest to misdemeanor assault.
In court prior to sentencing, Michael Callahan, Flynn's attorney, said that the case is "very sad" and is a result of a "very bad and ugly divorce that has escalated to this level. That is not to minimize what Mr. Flynn has done. He made some poor choices and that's why we're here."
Callahan said Flynn "is one of the good guys," adding his client has received commendations from the Cuyahoga Falls Police Department. "He's prepared to move on with his life."
"I took the plea because I didn't want my children to go through what they would've gone through," Flynn said to the court. "I regret the circumstances and I do apologize."
Spicer called what happened last June an "unfortunate [situation] not appropriately handled or dealt with."
She told Flynn he and his daughters need to "take a step back." Spicer said after six months she expects to receive a report from Flynn's probation officer.
"We need time, patience and professional assistance all the way around," Spicer said.
Following sentencing, Callahan told the Falls News-Press Flynn is beginning of a rebuilding process. "He will always be these girls' father and they will always be his daughters," he said. "And it's going to take some time to get them back together, and I think that's everybody's goal."
Paul Scarsella, from the Ohio Attorney General's Office which prosecuted the case, said the sentence was "appropriate."
E-mail: swiandt@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-686-3915