Benjamin Rutan Biography – Wiki
Benjamin Rutan was arrested after the former student reported his alleged misconduct and was given a recording device to capture his admission.
An Ohio high school teacher and coach was arrested Monday for alleged sexual misconduct with a student that began when the victim was 14 and lasted for five years.
The suspect, identified as Benjamin Rutan, was charged after the victim went to authorities last month.
Rutan worked at Norton Middle School in the South-Western City school district on the outskirts of Columbus, which released a statement saying the teacher had been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation, WSYX TV reports.
Age
Benjamin Rutan is 40-years-old.
Charged & Arrested of Sexual Misconduct with Student
The suspect, identified as Benjamin Rutan, 40, was charged after the victim went to authorities last month.
On December 2, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office gave the victim a recording device with which they captured Rutan allegedly admitting to his conduct several times during a conversation.
Rutan of Grove City was booked into a Franklin County jail for two felonies of sexual assault and one felony of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, PEOPLE confirms through online jail records.
He did not plead guilty and no attorney was identified who could speak on his behalf. He is being held on a $ 50,000 cash bond, WCMH TV reports.
According to an arrest document obtained by the two media, the first meeting between Rutan and the former student occurred in June 2013, when the girl was 14 years old. At the time, Rutan was a language arts teacher and an athletics and basketball coach.
The arrest document alleges that the two had sexual contact multiple times a week at locations on school property including the teacher’s classroom, in her coach’s office, and in the school parking lot. The alleged contact also occurred at other off-campus sites in Franklin County.
The alleged contact between the two ended in 2018, when the victim was 19 years old, according to the arrest document.
“Today, Wednesday, December 8, 2021, we learned that one of our teachers was detained by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office for alleged sexual misconduct issues involving a former student,” said the statement issued by the school district.
“We are working in full cooperation with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office,” he continued. “As soon as we learned of the charges, the district placed the teacher on administrative leave pending an investigation.”
“Please know that the safety and security of our students is our highest priority,” he said. “We appreciate your understanding and support as we work through our disciplinary and legal processes.”
