Ex-coach jailed for videoing girls
A former art teacher and cross country coach who recorded inappropriate videos of five female students cried Tuesday in a courtroom as he apologized for his actions.
“I’m really sorry for what I’ve done,” Robert Altenburger said through tears. “I know what I did was wrong . ... I wish that I had never done it but I know I can’t take it back. ... It is my hope that those who have been impacted can find healing.”
Ashland County Municipal Court Judge John Good sentenced Altenburger, 29, to 18 months in jail and ordered him to pay a $2,500 fine. Altenburger, who taught in the Hillsdale Local district, had been found guilty Dec. 9 of five counts of voyeurism, first-degree misdemeanors.
Each of his offenses carried a maximum 180-day sentence the county jail and a fine up to $1,000. However, the court’s jurisdictional limit meant he could be sentenced only to a maximum of 18 months.
Altenburger, of the Village of West Salem in Wayne County, will be required to register as a sex offender with the sheriff ’s office of the county in which he resides for 15 years after he is released from jail.
His attorney, Matthew Malone, said his client has contacted the Ohio Department of Education to surrender his teaching license.
Altenburger had taught art in the middle school and high school since 2016 and coached the high school cross country team. On picture day at Hillsdale Schools, he used his cellphone to record underneath female students’ skirts, Good said. The five victims range in age from 11 to 15.
Hillsdale Local Schools has reported that the district was made aware of the allegations
Aug. 31, and Altenburger was immediately placed on paid leave. He resigned Sept. 10.
None of the victims nor their representatives chose to speak in court. But one of the victims, whose name and age were not disclosed, provided a letter that she requested be read aloud in court. The letter read by Assistant City Law Director David Stimpert said:
“Dear Mr. Altenburger, when everything first happened, I was nervous that I got a nice man in trouble. As I waited to find out if he did do it, I was scared. And then I found out he did it. I didn’t believe it. I just wanted to close my ears. The next day, I was worried people would find out that I was one of the girls. Even though he did make some very bad mistakes, I forgive you. You were my favorite teacher. If I did not forgive you, I would feel weird. I bet if you ask for forgiveness, Jesus will forgive you. Even though you did that, I will take the lessons you taught me, and use them in my life.”
Altenburger, who had earlier cried while making his statement, again visibly broke down when the letter was read aloud.
Good said he believed Altenburger was remorseful, only because he was caught. He said he expects Altenburger to reoffend. The presentence investigation report found that Altenburger has struggled with a weakness for pornography since high school, Good said.
“These folks send their kids to you to ... educate them and keep them safe,” the judge said. “There’s no more fundamental trust, probably in the world. You not only abused that trust, you did so for your own perverse deviant sexual pleasure . ... Thank God that these heroic children came forward.”
Good, Stimpert, and Ashland County Prosecutor Christopher R. Tunnell have all expressed disagreement with the law for categorizing Altenburger’s offenses as misdemeanors instead of felonies.
At Altenburger’s court appearance on Dec. 9 in which Tunnell explained the charges, he said he has been in contact with state Rep. Darrell Kick, R-Loudonville, and state Senate President Larry Obhof, R-Medina, about pursuing an amendment to the voyeurism statute that would elevate a violation to a felony if the victim is a minor.