Former resource officer at Ohio school gets 18 months in prison for sexual battery of student

EATON, Ohio — A former sheriff’s deputy who was a resource officer at a school in western Ohio was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison after he was convicted last month of multiple charges for the sexual battery of a student.

Mason Williams, 26, of Eaton, also must register as sex offender for the rest of his life when he’s released from prison, according to a news release from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.

“You can’t do your job of keeping kids safe at school when you lack the judgment to know that students are off-limits for sexual relationships,” Attorney General Yost said in a statement. “He’s an embarrassment to the badge and he has rightfully earned the label of sex offender.”

Williams was a deputy for the Preble County Sheriff’s Office and was the resource officer at National Trail High School in New Paris, Ohio, which is west of Dayton near the Indiana border. He was arrested in March after being accused of having an inappropriate relationship with an 18-year-old student.

Ohio law prohibits those in a position of power from engaging in sex with a student enrolled at the school where they work, regardless of the student’s age or whether the two consider the relationship to be consensual, prosecutors say.

“Parents shouldn’t have to worry about predators when they send their kids to school,” Yost said in an earlier statement. “There is no age or no so-called consent that makes a school employee having sex with a student appropriate.”

In November, Williams was convicted of three third-degree felonies — two counts of sexual battery and one count of tampering with evidence. Investigators discovered Williams deleted electronic correspondence with the victim, prompting the tampering charge.