purple_chronic
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MAN SENTENCED FOR GIVING POT TO HIS KIDS
By TAMMY KRANZ
Advocate Reporter
NEWARK A Licking County Common Pleas Court judge sentenced a Pataskala man to three years of probation for giving marijuana to his three teenagers.
Donald C. Rutter, 36, last known address 210 Cedar St., Lot 219, pleaded guilty in April to one count each of corrupting another person with drugs, a fourth-degree felony; and contributing to the unruliness or delinquency of a minor and endangering children, both first-degree misdemeanors.
In addition to probation, Judge Thomas Marcelain ordered Rutter to pay a $500 fine and reimburse court costs, and imposed a six-month drivers license suspension.
When Rutter, who chose not to make a statement during the sentencing, was arrested he told police he would rather his children smoke marijuana with their parents than outside the home, according to police reports.
Both he and his wife, Yvonne K. Rutter, were charged with endangering their children. Yvonne Rutter also was sentenced to three years of probation on March 24.
The couple's three children are between the ages of 13 and 16 and are now in foster care.
Before the sentencing, Rutters attorney David Almos noted that his client had served 43 days jail time for the charges, has tested negative for drugs since the arrest, is under psychiatric care, and is working with Childrens Services to get his children back.
He would like the opportunity to correct the errors of his thinking that that was a proper thing for a parent to do, Almos said.
Marcelain said when considering the sentence, he recognized that Rutter giving marijuana to his children may have caused psychological harm to them. On the other hand, he said, Rutter had no former history of such charges.
It doesnt appear circumstances are likely to happen again, Marcelain said.
Tammy Kranz can be reached at (740) 328-8546 or [email protected].
Originally published May 15, 2006
By TAMMY KRANZ
Advocate Reporter
NEWARK A Licking County Common Pleas Court judge sentenced a Pataskala man to three years of probation for giving marijuana to his three teenagers.
Donald C. Rutter, 36, last known address 210 Cedar St., Lot 219, pleaded guilty in April to one count each of corrupting another person with drugs, a fourth-degree felony; and contributing to the unruliness or delinquency of a minor and endangering children, both first-degree misdemeanors.
In addition to probation, Judge Thomas Marcelain ordered Rutter to pay a $500 fine and reimburse court costs, and imposed a six-month drivers license suspension.
When Rutter, who chose not to make a statement during the sentencing, was arrested he told police he would rather his children smoke marijuana with their parents than outside the home, according to police reports.
Both he and his wife, Yvonne K. Rutter, were charged with endangering their children. Yvonne Rutter also was sentenced to three years of probation on March 24.
The couple's three children are between the ages of 13 and 16 and are now in foster care.
Before the sentencing, Rutters attorney David Almos noted that his client had served 43 days jail time for the charges, has tested negative for drugs since the arrest, is under psychiatric care, and is working with Childrens Services to get his children back.
He would like the opportunity to correct the errors of his thinking that that was a proper thing for a parent to do, Almos said.
Marcelain said when considering the sentence, he recognized that Rutter giving marijuana to his children may have caused psychological harm to them. On the other hand, he said, Rutter had no former history of such charges.
It doesnt appear circumstances are likely to happen again, Marcelain said.
Tammy Kranz can be reached at (740) 328-8546 or [email protected].
Originally published May 15, 2006