A teacher’s assistant has been charged with rape after allegedly assaulting one of her disabled students in his own home on a ‘snow day’.
Christin Coble, 45, was arrested and booked into the Sandusky County Jail in Sandusky, Ohio, on charges of rape on January 7, according to official records. Police responded to a call over the alleged assault in Woodville Township at the home of one of her disabled students, who was at home due to winter weather and the closure of school on a snow day.
The alleged victim’s mother told the outlet her child has the mental capacity of a 9-year-old. She also claimed she caught Coble in the act, WTOL 11 reported from the courtroom, where Coble was officially charged on January 8.
Coble – who has held an education licence since 2016 and previously worked for Bowling Green, Fostoria and Gibsonburg school districts – was required to pay $100,000 (£81,000) bail. It is unclear if she has entered a plea.
Prosecutor Joshua Clark told the court: “It is the job of [the] bond to protect society, including the most vulnerable in our society, which I believe this 15-year-old victim whose [disability] falls into that most vulnerable.” According to PEOPLE, a school official confirmed in a statement that Coble, who worked as a paraprofessional with the Woodmore Local School District, has since been placed on unpaid administrative leave.
In defence, Coble’s lawyer said: “If you look at her past involvement here in this community, there’s absolutely nothing that would show that she has been or will be a future threat to the community.” The prosecution alleges Coble was not at the job when she attended the alleged victim’s home.
Kyle E. Wright of Ruck & Wright Law, a lawyer for the alleged victim’s family, told the publication he is “confident that the law enforcement and prosecutors involved will deliver justice in the criminal case; however, it is our job as advocates for the victim’s family to survey this from every angle and find the truths.”
““What these people have been through in the last 48 hours [is] absolutely unimaginable, so they’ve asked us to ask the media, especially social media, to give them some privacy, let this court and the justice system just do its job so they can move forward.
“Unfortunately, we live in a world where evil exists and that evil comes in many forms. Anyone that is a parent understands this and lives with this concern every day when we send our kids to school. But when that evil comes in the form of an adult that students and parents TRUST, it creates an entirely different level of trauma.”
Coble was released from jail on January 10 after posting bond, the sheriff’s office said. Her case is currently under investigation and is set to go before a grand jury at a later date.
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