Former South-Western teacher, coach sentenced for sexually abusing student for years
As the former South-Western City School District teacher and coach who sexually abused her for years faced sentencing Monday, Madison Sparks told him "he stole the innocence of a child."
Benjamin Rutan, 42, appeared Monday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, where Judge Jaiza Page sentenced him to six years in prison, following the recommended sentence in the plea agreement.
Rutan pleaded guilty earlier this year to two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. He admitted to first sexually assaulting Sparks on Norton Middle School's grounds when she was 14 years old in 2013, and continuing to sexually abuse her for multiple years after she transferred to a different district.
Rutan was Sparks' eighth grade language arts teacher and her track and basketball coach.
Sparks, now 24, said Rutan first singled her out in the 7th grade when she was 12 and began grooming her. She also criticized the plea deal that allows Rutan to get a "few years" in prison.
"Six years sounds just about as appropriate as raping a little kid," Sparks told the judge during the court hearing. "He deserves to serve the 12 years that he's taken from me."
Page could have sentenced Rutan to up to 10 years in prison.
Assistant Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Daniel Meyer, director of the office's special victims unit, said earlier in the hearing that he believed the deal was well-thought-out and based on the timeline of when things happened, even if it's not entirely satisfactory for Sparks or her family.
Rutan’s defense attorney, Bradley Koffel, said during the hearing that the sexual relationship happened for two years while Sparks was under 16, the age of consent in Ohio.
Rutan apologized to Sparks and her family in the courtroom during the hearing.
"Everything she said today was true," Rutan said. "She has the right to hate me. … At the end of the day, I was the adult in the room, and I had every opportunity to stop, and I didn't."
Rutan will have to register as a Tier II sex offender upon his release from prison.
"I don't find comfort in knowing that his life is over as he knew it," Sparks said during the hearing. "I do find comfort in knowing that he will never be able to hurt another little girl the way that he hurt me."
Sparks spoke with The Dispatch last year about how Rutan robbed her of her childhood and how South-Western City School District staff and administrators failed to protect her despite blatant signs. She is suing the school board, six current or former administrators and Rutan.
Among other things she alleges In her lawsuit filed last year, Sparks said she frequently sat in Rutan's lap during eighth-grade language arts class. She alleges he spray-painted a single chair in his classroom gold for her to sit in, yet parents’ concerns were dismissed as rumors by school staff.
One of the attorneys representing Sparks in the civil lawsuit, Chelsea Weaver, told The Dispatch after the hearing Monday that one chapter is closing, but they are still fighting for accountability. Weaver said now they will receive the prosecutor's file, which will assist with the civil case.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ex-Columbus area teacher, coach sentenced for sexually abusing student
