The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Former Foster Parent of the Year sentenced
Concord man gets 30 months in prison for crimes against 3 boys
James Dunn is a former Lake County Foster Parent of the Year who fostered 12 different children with no complaints.
Now, the 42-year-old Concord Township resident will never be allowed to foster another child again.
Dunn, a longtime employee at a local insurance company until recently being terminated, was sentenced Sept. 14 to 30 months in prison for committing crimes against three boys.
Dunn and his defense attorneys, Eric Nemecek and Richard J. Perez, had asked for probation.
“I never meant to hurt anyone,” Dunn said. “Regardless of my intentions, it was clearly inappropriate and should never have occurred.”
Lake County Common Pleas Judge Vincent A. Culotta questioned Dunn about what exactly he was sorry for, and Dunn replied, “for any kind of mental distress I may have caused them.”
Culotta appeared frustrated at his answer, finding Dunn showed no genuine remorse.
“He sits here and apologizes for any conduct he may have engaged in that may have distressed them. But he doesn’t admit to doing anything,” said the judge. “I don’t know what he’s claiming he’s sorry for. He doesn’t get that he did anything wrong.”
Dunn originally faced up to 9 ½ years in prison if convicted of sex offenses against children.
On July 31, he accepted a plea deal for reduced charges. Dunn waived his right to have his felony charges of gross sexual imposition and illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance presented to a grand jury.
Instead, he agreed to enter an Alford plea — which allows a defendant to plead guilty while still protesting his innocence to avoid the risk of being convicted of more serious counts — to three lesser felony counts of attempted child endangering. The plea deal allows Dunn to avoid being declared a sex offender after his release, which would have been mandatory if found guilty on the original charges.
“This court has no authority to order he register as a sex offender,” Culotta said. “But the nature of the conduct is sexual in nature, making it more serious.”
The first attempted child endangering count occurred in December 2015 when he rubbed lotion on a 14-year-old boy’s genitals, Assistant Lake County Prosecutor Jenny Azouri said.
The other two counts happened Dec. 26, 2015, at Mentor Heisley Racquet and Fitness Club against two brothers, ages 11 and 15. Dunn videotaped the boys at the club without their knowledge while they changed clothes. The video was found on his home computer.
In addition, he washed the youngest victim’s genitals while at the exercise facility that day, Azouri said.
None of the victims were foster children.
The brothers’ parents spoke in court to say that they trusted Dunn, whom they knew through his mother, around their sons.
“I thought you cared about my kids, and about other kids who were less fortunate,” said the father. “I was a fool! You are in every sense a predator. I let the wolf into my home. You almost destroyed my family.”
The other boy’s father said he was proud of his son for having the courage to come forward about what happened to him.
“Foster Parent of the Year? Look where he’s ended up. He lost his job and molested my son,” the victim’s father said. “He used his position specifically to get close to children. The maximum jail time would not be enough. I’m just glad my son stepped forward and stopped you from hurting any other kids.”