The former police officer was sentenced, Monday.
Retired Chillicothe Police Officer Richard "Eric" McKee, who recently pleaded guilty to charges stemming from allegations of sexual misconduct with a 15-year-old girl, was sentenced in the Ross County Court of Common Pleas, Monday.
McKee was sentenced to two years in prison by retired Judge William J. Corzine, who was filling in for Judge Mike Ater; however, here is the breakdown:
*For counts 1-5 (unlawful sexual conduct with a minor), third-degree felonies, McKee was sentenced to two years of imprisonment.
(NOTE: Counts 6-10 were dropped as part of the plea bargain made on August 17th.)
*For charges 11 (importuning) and 12 (unauthorized use of an Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway), both fifth-degree felonies, McKee was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment.
*For charges 13 and 14 (misdemeanor sexual imposition), he was sentenced to 30 days of imprisonment.
Each sentence is to run concurrently, which means he will spend two years in prison.
McKee was also sentenced to 5 years of post-release control for charges 1-5 and 11, while he was given 3 years of post-release control for charge 12. In addition, he'll be required to register as a Tier-II sex offender for the next 25 years.
Ross County Prosecutor Matt Schmidt said the state recommended the two-year sentence in exchange for McKee's guilty plea, which was based on what the victim wanted.
"Most important to me is not maybe what some people in the community want, what I would want, in terms of retribution, " he said. "I want to see that her wishes are fulfilled. She's the one that's had to suffer through this and the one that's been affected by it."
He further explained that the victim wanted McKee to publicly admit to what he had done because she was "tired of people talking about her in the community and suggesting that she was lying."
"She wanted to see some penalty for it, certainly, but she really wanted to put this behind her and go on with her life."
When asked to respond to some public opinion that the sentence might not be steep enough, Schmidt said he reviewed cases similar to this and found that the court has sentenced anything from community control to one or two years in prison.
"Understand it's not like a rape where there's a mandatory prison sentence. The court does have the ability to (issue) community control, and sometimes does in these situations," he said.
He did, however, reiterate that he felt this sentence was appropriate based on the victim's wishes.
