593 N.E.2d 515
No. V90-49004.Court of Claims of Ohio, Victims of Crime Division.
Decided December 28, 1990.
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Gerald J. Glinsek, for the applicant.
Anthony J. Celebrezze, Jr., Attorney General, for the state.
SUSAN D. BROWN, Commissioner.
From June 30, 1979 to May 1989, in Summit County, Ohio, the injured party, Joseph S. Rectenwald, suffered personal injury as a result of periodic sexual abuse by John H. Maher. The applicant, Earl E. Rectenwald, Jr., is the injured party’s father.
The abuse was reported to law enforcement authorities on May 26, 1989. The offender committed suicide after being arrested and released in connection with the abuse of another child.
After careful review of the reparations application, the finding of fact and recommendation of the Attorney General, documents and evidence contained in the case file, and the response of the applicant, I make the following determination.
In the interests of justice, the date of the reporting of the abuse should not be the sole determination of whether counseling was related to Joseph’s psychological injuries. A worksheet from Akron Child Guidance Center indicates that Joseph blocked out a significant trauma which the doctor could only assume occurred when the child was three. This trauma resulted in emotional and behavioral problems.
A medical information report prepared by Rev. Byron Arledge states that he counseled the injured party for extreme anxiety resulting from the child’s molestation around June 1979. The investigator expressed doubts regarding Arledge’s statements because Joseph did not reveal his abuse until seven months after the counseling ended. The investigator also questioned whether counseling at the Akron Child Guidance Center was related to the sexual abuse because treatment began four months prior to the reporting of the abuse.
Based on the psychological reports, there is no doubt the injured party was treated for emotional and behavioral problems. The applicant should not be penalized because the source of Joseph’s problem was not discovered until after he received counseling.
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Therefore, the applicant is granted an award of reparations consisting of $2,398 in allowable expense.
Findings of Fact
1. The injured party was criminally assaulted by John H. Maher in Summit County, Ohio.
2. The criminally injurious conduct was reported to the Summit County Sheriff’s Department within seventy-two hours after its discovery.
3. The applicant is the injured party’s father.
4. The applicant has suffered a net economic loss in the amount of $2,398, consisting entirely of allowable expense.
Conclusions of Law
1. The applicant qualifies as a “claimant” as defined by R.C. 2743.51(A).
2. As required by R.C. 2743.52, the applicant has proven, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the injured party suffered personal injury as the result of the criminally injurious conduct upon which this claim is based.
3. The applicant is granted an award of reparations in the amount of $2,398, consisting entirely of “allowable expense,” as defined in R.C. 2743.51(F).
Order
1. Judgment is rendered against the state of Ohio and the Director of Budget and Management as its agency for payment of the award in the amount of $2,398.
2. The warrant issued in payment of this judgment to the applicant shall be sent by the Director of Budget and Management to the applicant at the address certified to the Director by the Clerk of this court.
3. This award is expressly conditioned upon the subrogation provisions of R.C. 2743.72, which require any benefits or advantages received from any collateral source, including the offender, be repaid to the state of Ohio.
4. This order is entered without prejudice to the applicant’s right to file a supplemental reparations application pursuant to R.C. 2743.68 if the applicant incurs economic loss not considered in this determination and not reimbursed from other persons, including collateral sources.
5. Costs are to be assumed by the reparations fund.
So ordered.
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