Judge Also Orders 3 Years of Community Control
Ken Chuha, 69, of Chardon, was sentenced to six months in jail and three years of community control for child porn-related charges June 20.
Ken Chuha, 69, of Chardon, was sentenced to six months in jail and three years of community control for child porn-related charges June 20.
In front of a packed courtroom, Geauga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Matt Rambo handed down the sentence to Chuha, who previously pleaded guilty of two counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material, a fifth-degree felony.
A sentencing memorandum and supplemental memorandum filed with the court prior to Chuha’s sentencing included over 25 letters in support of him.
Chuha’s wife, Chardon City Council member Deb Chuha, and his daughters were among those present Friday morning, as well as Chardon City Council member David Lelko.
Chuha’s attorney, Steven Bradley, emphasized his client’s remorse.
“He certainly accepts full responsibility for his conduct,” Bradley said. “He is accountable for his actions. He knows what he did is morally wrong, criminal in nature, violates and offends the community.”
Chuha is actively engaged in therapy and counseling with the goal to understand why he engaged in this conduct and to ensure he never re-offends, he said.
“I think that’s important because, as you know, the court has certain guiding principles here in fashioning an appropriate sentence and at least several of those would relate to protecting the community and fashioning a sentence that would serve to rehabilitate him,” Bradley said, adding counseling checks those two boxes.
The other factor to consider is punishment, Bradley said.
“We’re asking the court to consider imposing a sentence of community control with any conditions the court sees fit,” he said. “He now is a convicted felon subject to sex offender registration. He recognizes all of his friends and family and supporters in the community, many of whom are in the back of the courtroom here today, are shocked, surprised and disappointed in him.”
All of those things serve as a form of punishment, Bradley said.
Assistant Prosecutor Nicholas Burling said while Chuha may be remorseful, harm has still been done.
“I have prosecuted these cases for a number of years and what I’ve seen in these cases is a lot of times, it’s an easy crime to commit because you just sit at your computer at home with no one around,” Burling said. “I think that lures people into a sense of not recognizing that these are in fact real children who are being exploited.”
This specific case deals with nudity rather than sexual activity, but it is still illegal and an exploitation of children who will be impacted for the rest of their lives, he said.
While Burling was happy to hear Chuha has been in counseling, he emphasized Chuha’s actions were unacceptable.
“Taking into consideration the harm done here, as well as the lack of (prior criminal) record, his age and the fact that he did get into treatment, the state is asking the court on count two for a six-month residential community control sanction, and then once he’s completed that, he be placed on non-residential community control for both counts with the court’s standard conditions,” he said.
The state also asked that Chuha be required to continue counselling and that the court impose several special conditions banning Chuha from owning or viewing pornography, for internet usage to be monitored, to ban him from entrance to sexually explicit businesses and to ban him from congregating in locations children are likely to congregate, Burling said.
Chuha agreed to forfeit two video cameras, a computer tower, a hard drive and two SD cards, and also must register as a tier one sex offender, Burling said.
Jim Blum, a lifelong friend of Chuha’s who submitted a letter in his favor, testified to his character.
Today isn’t about Chuha’s guilt or innocence. Rather, it is about the first step in Chuha’s recovery and what it will take to move forward, Blum said.
He referenced the words of another audience member, who he said has worked with incarcerated teens.
The worst thing that happens to them is for their friends, family and community to vilify, shun and abandon them, he said.
“Now Ken may have gone down a wrong path, but for 69 years, he was on the right and what I’m asking you (Rambo) to do is to lead us as a community in making sure we don’t go down another wrong path in his recovery,” he said.
Chuha read a statement expressing regret.
“I have to live with the choices I made and want to rebuild my reputation and trust that I lost in the community,” he said. “I am taking responsibility by going to counseling. I want to understand and make sure that I won’t do it again.”
Rambo agreed with Burling’s assessments.
“The one thing I think, Mr. Chuha, that you do not appreciate, was the fact that your conduct and conduct by others similar feeds into a system where children are victimized. Without your conduct, without the demand for the materials that you consume, those victims might not be victims. And that is something I think I have failed to hear you recognize, or seen recognized in any of the materials presented to me,” Rambo said.
In addition to jail time and community control, Chuha must also continue mental health treatment, possess no devices that can access the internet, must not consume pornography and must avoid locations where children congregate, among other items, Rambo ordered.
Chuha will report to the Geauga County Safety Center before noon June 23, the judge said, adding he would also be required to pay a $2,500 fine over the next three years and must also register as a tier 1 sex offender with the Geauga County Sheriff’s Office after his release from jail.
Chuha’s other charges — one count of pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor, one count of illegal use of a minor and one count of possessing criminal tools — were dismissed upon his sentencing.
