By Gary Ogle
gogle@wbcowqel.com

Lady Justice is supposed to be blindfolded in the American system of jurisprudence. Thursday, she was openly weeping because there was no sentence she could impose that would bring justice for a 13-year-old girl.

Crawford County Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leuthold followed the agreed upon sentence between the Crawford County Prosecutor’s Office and Justin Millhouse II. The sentence totaled 30 years in prison following Millhouse’s guilty pleas to nine felony counts, all sex-related crimes, from a 24-count indictment issued by the Crawford County Grand Jury.

Millhouse is 33 years old. The victim was 13 at the time the crimes were committed.

“This victim is going to have to live with this the rest of her life,” Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Hoovler said. “I hope he thinks about that every day of the 30 years he’s in prison.”

Millhouse pleaded guilty to three counts of felony 2 pandering obscenities involving a minor and was sentenced to seven years in prison on each count. He pleaded guilty to three charges of felony 3 sexual battery and was sentenced to 36 months on each of those counts. Those six sentences are to run consecutive to one another for a total of 30 years.

In addition, Millhouse pleaded guilty to three counts of felony 2 endangering children. He was sentenced to three years on each of those counts. However, those sentences are to be served concurrent to the other six sentences.

The original indictment included 24 counts – nine counts of pandering obscenities involving a minor, six counts of sexual battery, and nine counts of endangering children. Had Millhouse been convicted on all counts and given consecutive, maximum sentences on each, the total time in prison would have equaled 162 years.

Millhouse, who was living in Bucyrus at the time, was charged after his girlfriend, 32-year-old Bethany Thompson, alerted police in June of this year to images that Thompson had on his computer of him performing various sexual acts on the victim.

However, Thompson was also involved in taking the photographs and was shown in some of those photographs touching the victim herself. Thompson was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Sept. 19 for her role in victimizing the young teen.

Crawford County Prosecutor Matthew Crall admitted there was no satisfaction or sense of closure even though both Millhouse and Thompson received long prison sentences.

“This is a case, both personally as a father and as a professional, it’s outrageous. You have the combination of a person taking advantage of a young woman and then photographing it,” said an extremely somber Crall. “The outrage that I feel could never adequately be addressed by any sense.”

The tenseness in the courtroom was only heightened by what Leuthold called a complicated case and plea deal. The judge admitted his frustration over having to restart the hearing because evidence and specific counts that Millhouse pleaded guilty to were inadvertently mixed in the wording of the plea arrangement.

Millhouse was very subdued throughout the hearing and his voice often almost inaudible over the sound of construction coming from outside the courthouse. However, there was no doubt about what Hoovler said when given the opportunity to speak on the record.

Calling the circumstances surrounding the case “evil,” Hoovler said, “I don’t speak much in agreed-to sentencings, but I have struggled with this case more than any case since I have been a prosecutor.”

Millhouse’s defense counsel, James Mayer III, pointed out that his client had never threatened to force a trial and that the sentence he agreed to was nearly as long as he had lived.

“He (Millhouse) has always been someone who has expressed remorse to me,” Mayer said.

Mayer also noted for the record that it was the understanding of the defense that this plea would cover the crimes his client pleaded to, as well as any possible crimes not yet charged as a result of further evidence collected and analyzed. Mayer also brought up his client’s right to ask for early release after serving 15 years of his sentence.

Hoovler interjected that the Prosecutor’s Office had no intention of filing additional charges but would “vigorously” oppose any motion for an early release.

Judge Leuthold also weighed in on the early release issue.

“At this point there is absolutely no agreement that any early release is going to happen,” the judge said for the record, noting that by law he has to consider any such motion when it is filed.

Millhouse did speak when given the opportunity and read from a handwritten prepared statement. Struggling to maintain his emotions, the red-eyed and pony-tailed Millhouse said that if he could address the victim, he would tell her he was sorry. He admitted he had let many people down.

“I’m not upset with anyone but myself,” Millhouse said.

The judge, however, picked up very quickly on Millhouse’s own words of regret at “allowing” the incidents to happen.

“Mr. Millhouse, you didn’t ‘allow’ this to happen. You made it happen,” Leuthold said. “What was done in this case was repugnant and unacceptable.”

Leuthold described the photographic evidence for the record, but had difficulty forcing himself do so. “It is so disturbing. It was calculated, sociopathic conduct.”

Again referring to Millhouse’s statement, Leuthold expressed doubt Millhouse could ever make up for what he had done.

“Unless you go out there and cure cancer or something like that,” Leuthold said. “It’s going to take an awful lot.”

Leuthold went over Millhouse’s criminal record during the formal sentencing. That record involves several previous felonies including, but not limited to, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and illegal sexual conduct with a minor.

Millhouse will be subject to five years of mandatory post-release control. He will also be considered a Tier III sexual offender meaning he will have to register with the Sheriff’s Office every 90 days for the rest of his life.

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