Lou Cirino, a once celebrated teacher and coach, was sentenced to six months in Geauga County jail Dec. 27 for a relationship he had with a student in 2009 and 2010 while working at West Geauga Schools.
Lou Cirino, a once celebrated teacher and coach, was sentenced to six months in Geauga County jail Dec. 27 for a relationship he had with a student in 2009 and 2010 while working at West Geauga Schools.
In a packed, emotional courtroom, Geauga County Common Pleas Judge David Ondrey heard from the victim and Cirino’s wife, Christi, before he sentenced Cirino on a gross sexual imposition charge, a fourth-degree felony. Cirino will have to register as a Tier 1 sex offender for the next 15 years.
“You were in a position of authority and trust,” Ondrey told Cirino. “One of the things I’ve had to consider is deterrence for other young school officials, whether male or female. They need to understand the seriousness of upholding their obligation to refrain from inappropriate behavior.”
“The collateral damage of sentencing is significant,” the judge continued. “Your wife and children don’t deserve to have to suffer, but it’s the victim I must consider.”
Cirino’s laywer, Joseph R. Klammer, of Mentor, asked Ondrey for no jail time. Geauga County Prosecutor Jim Flaiz asked for an 18-month prison sentence.
“This case started with charges that carried potential life in prison but ended with this local jail sentence for good reason,” Klammer wrote in an email afterward. “It should have never been charged in that manner. Lou was not afraid to admit that he was wrong 15 years ago when he was a new teacher in his twenties. That said, he is still entitled to be proud of the husband, father and man he is today.”
The day marked an end to a year-long staggering fall from grace for Cirino, a 2002 West Geauga graduate. Strongsville police began investigating him last December after he had been removed as the Mustangs football coach.
“I’m embarrassed, I’m disgusted,” Cirino, 41, told Judge Ondrey as he read from two sides of a sheet of paper. “Unfortunately we are all here because of the pain and harm I caused another person. I’m sorry to her family, a family I knew for 20 years.”
Cirino said he had remained friends with the victim until a year ago. “I never knew until recently how much she had been suffering,” he said. “And that pains me. As a young man, I was highly emotional to a lot of things that had happened to me.”
“I’m sorry,” he continued. “To my family and friends, I want to say thank you, and I love you. I’m sorry for the pain and shame I brought to our family. To my three children at home …” Cirino said, his voice breaking. “I left them today, not knowing what was going to happen. That’s why I said the Our Father 8,000 times. It says: Forgive us our trespasses. I’m asking the victim and her family and the court to forgive me for my trespasses.”
There were more people in the courtroom to support Cirino, many of them wearing red as a show of support. When Cirino’s wife, Christi, spoke to Judge Ondrey, there were many people on Cirino’s side in tears.
“I’ve been trying to wrap my head around what is currently happening to me,” Christi said. “I’ve been grieving the life I once knew while trying my best to lighten the heaviness that is consuming my heart and my entire being.”
Christi said she’s had to get a job since Cirino’s arrest and asked the judge not to sentence Cirino to any jail time. “I knew the life we tried to build for our family would never be the same again,” Christi said, sobbing. The Cirinos have three young children.
“I know the man that I married is a good person and that what happened 15 years prior doesn’t define him completely, and he has worked continuously to build himself in the years following,” she said.
When the victim finally rose to speak, there was a defiant tone and a defiant stare as Cirino leaned forward, his head down.
“I stand here today vindicated from the layers of manipulation, lies and deceit that this man built up for decades, and is still attempting until today — within our communities, students and families,” she said. “As mentors, teachers, coaches and adults, it is our duty to guide and lead youth in the right direction.”
When the prosecution asked for the maximum penalty, Flaiz detailed a grooming process that started when the victim was 12, as Cirino was a friend of the family. The victim was 17 when the incident occurred, Flaiz said.
“The defendant didn’t steal a dirt bike,” Flaiz said. “This is a felony sex offense. It’s really one of the worst forms of conduct. He was put in a position of authority over children and he leveraged that position to victimize a child. That’s why we’re here.”
“It’s wrong now, it was wrong 15 years ago,” Flaiz said.
Upon release from jail, Cirino’s freedom will be contingent on his compliance with community control. A violation would cause him to face a prison sentence up to 18 months.
