The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Man cleans fairgrounds stalls as part of sentence
Bayley Toth was knocking over a Porta-Potty, in June
The Lake County Fair was over for most people by the morning of July 30, but not for Bayley Toth.
The 18-year-old Painesville Township resident was in the horse stalls at the fairgrounds cleaning up in the aftermath of the six-day-long fair that wrapped up July 29.
“You act like an animal, you’re going to take care of animals,” Painesville Municipal Court Judge Michael Cicconetti told Toth July 24, the same day the annual fair started.
Toth was at the Painesville Municipal Court that day for his sentencing on two misdemeanor criminal mischief charges.
In early June, security camera footage caught Toth knocking over a Porta-Potty, throwing two life preservers into the water and damaging a WiFi bridge with a basketball at Painesville Township Park.
Cicconetti sentenced Toth to 120 days in jail, most of which was suspended. In place of spending
time in jail, the longtime judge known internationally for his creative sentences told Toth that if he can play with crap, he can pick it up too.
“I think it’s a good way to make people think a little harder next time,” court probation officer Jamie Crook said of the judge’s creative sentences.
Crook added that sentences such as Toth’s allow for those who are found guilty of a nonviolent crime to have a chance to
be productive rather than just sitting in jail.
The number of creative sentences Cicconetti hands down a year can vary, but Crook and chief probation officer Dave Washlock said there’s usually a handful.
In fact, Toth’s creative sentence wasn’t the first this year that stemmed from an incident at Painesville Township Park. Another person had pushed the life preservers off the pier earlier this year, and last month that person was required to hand out water safety pamphlets and Lifesavers candies at the park.
In addition to his cleanup duties at the fairgrounds,
In addition to his cleanup duties at the fairgrounds, Toth will have 40 more hours of community service to be done at a nonprofit agency. The court does not specify which agency Toth has to choose.
Toth will have 40 more hours of community service to be done at a nonprofit agency. The court does not specify which agency Toth has to choose.
He also has to pay $284.83 in restitution for damage to the park, according to court records. He is not to enter Lake Metroparks (which runs Painesville Township Park) facilities and has an 11 p.m. curfew, which will be reviewed after six months.
Toth is also ordered to take at least six credits hours at college this fall.