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Former Buchtel coach gets early release from prison

By Ed Meyer
Beacon Journal staff writer

Former Buchtel High School football coach Claude Brown was to be released from the Summit County Jail today after a judge granted him shock probation.

Brown, 42, served nearly eight months in prison for sexual battery. The offense, for which he originally was sentenced to two years in prison, involved several incidents with a 17-year-old female student at the school in 2006.

Common Pleas Judge Marvin A. Shapiro heard arguments this morning from an assistant county prosecutor and two Akron Police Department detectives who investigated the case. All three asked the judge to keep Brown in prison, but Shapiro ordered his release, saying Brown had already paid a steep price for his crime.

Shapiro said Brown ''lost his right and his (teaching) license to earn a living'' in Ohio and that his ''standing in the community certainly has been diminished.''

As part of the release order, Shapiro placed Brown on probation for four years and ordered him not to have any contact with teenagers or the victim and her family.

Brown also was placed in the Tier 3 classification for sex offenders — the most serious level — and he must register his address with authorities every 90 days for the rest of his life, his lawyer said.

Assistant Prosecutor Greta Johnson said the victim and her family were notified about this morning's hearing, but chose not to attend because of ''all the ridicule'' to which she previously had been subjected.

Johnson said the victim was forced to leave Buchtel and that the ridicule continued at the Akron school to which she transferred.

Brown, dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit, briefly addressed Shapiro, saying he had ''learned a lesson'' from the ''bad judgment'' he used.

''I've been humbled 100 percent, and I just want the chance to rebuild my life,'' Brown said.

Defense lawyer Paul Adamson, who called Shapiro's decision ''the right thing to do,'' said neither he nor Brown know what line of work he will pursue next.

''He's going to have to start an entirely new career path,'' the lawyer said.

Claude Brown listens to his lawyer Paul Adamson as Adamson recommends that Brown be released from his two year prison sentence today. (Karen Schiely/Akron Beacon Journal)

Former Buchtel High School football coach Claude Brown was to be released from the Summit County Jail today after a judge granted him shock probation.

Brown, 42, served nearly eight months in prison for sexual battery. The offense, for which he originally was sentenced to two years in prison, involved several incidents with a 17-year-old female student at the school in 2006.

Common Pleas Judge Marvin A. Shapiro heard arguments this morning from an assistant county prosecutor and two Akron Police Department detectives who investigated the case. All three asked the judge to keep Brown in prison, but Shapiro ordered his release, saying Brown had already paid a steep price for his crime.

Shapiro said Brown ''lost his right and his (teaching) license to earn a living'' in Ohio and that his ''standing in the community certainly has been diminished.''

As part of the release order, Shapiro placed Brown on probation for four years and ordered him not to have any contact with teenagers or the victim and her family.

Brown also was placed in the Tier 3 classification for sex offenders — the most serious level — and he must register his address with authorities every 90 days for the rest of his life, his lawyer said.

Assistant Prosecutor Greta Johnson said the victim and her family were notified about this morning's hearing, but chose not to attend because of ''all the ridicule'' to which she previously had been subjected.

Johnson said the victim was forced to leave Buchtel and that the ridicule continued at the Akron school to which she transferred.

Brown, dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit, briefly addressed Shapiro, saying he had ''learned a lesson'' from the ''bad judgment'' he used.

''I've been humbled 100 percent, and I just want the chance to rebuild my life,'' Brown said.

Defense lawyer Paul Adamson, who called Shapiro's decision ''the right thing to do,'' said neither he nor Brown know what line of work he will pursue next.

''He's going to have to start an entirely new career path,'' the lawyer said.



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