Jury to decide case of former city worker

A jury will decide the fate of a former Lorain sewer crew chief charged with gross sexual imposition for allegedly having sexual contact with a coworker in a city office. Hector Medina, 48, of Avon, was fired and later indicted stemming from the Dec. 11, 2017, incident, according to records from his city personnel file and Lorain County Common Pleas Court. A jury of three women and nine men will decide the case. In closing arguments March 5, Lorain County Assistant Prosecutor Pete Gauthier and defense attorney Brent L. English said the only thing they agreed on was they have dramatically different views of the events that happened. Medina and a female coworker were at the Lorain Utilities Department’s sewer division offices at the Philip Q. Maiorana Wastewater Treatment Plant, 6301 W. Erie Ave., when the incident happened, according to the city records. The two spent several hours working on computerized records there, according to city records. When the worker attempted to leave, Medina allegedly grabbed her buttocks and pulled her on top of him as he was seated in a chair, according to city records. The worker resisted and punched Medina in the chest to get up. Medina allegedly hid the keys to a city vehicle she was using. When Medina showed her the keys, the worker attempted to take them, but then he pushed her against a wall and began trying to kiss and grope her, according to city records. The worker who accused Medina had no reason to lie about the situation, Gauthier said. She did not back down from her testimony even under “withering” cross-examination in court, he said. While her credibility is beyond reproach, city workers who served as defense witnesses did not see the incident happen, Gauthier said. Later, the worker recorded Medina apologizing for his actions, he said. “I submit to you, ladies and gentleman, that is not an apology for a hug; it’s an apology for much more,” Gauthier said. “It’s an apology for what (the worker) told you he did to her that day.” English recounted testimony of the city workers and criticized the work of a Lorain police detective who investigated the incident. He said the claim that Medina made a sexual comment to the worker was preposterous, and it would be impossible for the two of them even to fit on the chair together. “Did it happen? Absolutely not,” English said. No city workers ever heard the woman call for help or shout for Medina to stop because it never happened, he said. The case clearly is a “he said, she said” case, which is why the details matter and why juries do not find someone guilty on “maybes,” English said. The jury deliberated about 40 minutes March 5. They were scheduled to resume at 9 a.m., March 6, before Common Pleas Judge John Miraldi.