More charges for Swartz?
Police: Ex-commissioner had sex with second girl
By Joel Moroney
News Journal
Swartz timeline
1996 -- A Republican, Dave Swartz is first elected a Richland County commissioner.
2000 -- Swartz is re-elected commissioner.
2003 -- Swartz registers for the March 2 election primaries to run for a third term as commissioner.
Jan.
19 -- Swartz resigns his position as county commissioner the same day
he is in Shelby Municipal Court facing a charge of sexual battery
involving a child.
Feb.
2 -- Swartz pleads guilty in court to felony sex charges involving a
teenage girl. He faces up to 10 years in prison at an upcoming
sentencing.
Feb. 18 -- Washington Township Trustee Tim Wert is picked to take over Swartz's commissioner seat, which ends January 2005.
MANSFIELD -- Former Richland County Commissioner
David Swartz is under investigation after being accused of sexual
involvement with a second child for five years, according to the
sheriff's department.
Swartz, 66, of 6847 Bowman Street
Road, Shelby, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual battery Feb. 2 and
awaits sentencing that could land him in prison for up to 10 years.
Swartz resigned his position as
commissioner Jan. 19, the same day he was forced to make an initial
court appearance to face those charges. He was accused of sexually
abusing a now-17-year-old girl for more than a decade.
Authorities have information that
Swartz sexually abused a second girl, now 19, from 1990 to 1995,
according to Richland County Sheriff's Sgt. Jeff McBride, a detective
for children's services.
McBride said the allegations that
Swartz abused the second girl did not stem from the initial
investigation, but he would not reveal how he received the second
complaint.
He said the second investigation began in mid-February.
"Another investigation is going on
against him involving another minor child," McBride said. He said
Swartz had long-term access to both girls, but his alleged abuse of the
second girl is believed to have stopped in 1995.
The dates make the girl 6 to 11
years of age during the reported abuse. McBride said the investigation
is basically complete, and he anticipates meeting with Knox County
Prosecutor John Baker to discuss charges. Baker has been appointed
special prosecutor in the Swartz case because of the former
commissioner's relationship with local authorities.
The charges Swartz admitted to in
the initial case are for sexually abusing the first girl from 2000 to
2004. Swartz admitted in court to engaging in sex with the girl.
He told investigators the abuse
started when the child was about 6 years old, according to paperwork
filed in the first case. McBride said that conversation occurred when
he confronted Swartz in his commissioner's office.
Visiting Knox County Common Pleas Judge Otho Eyster has not set a sentencing date for the first case, according to his office.
Swartz, a potato farmer, has not been charged in the second case, and Baker did not return a call seeking comment.
"I'm going to have to take a look at
it," Swartz's attorney Bob Whitney said Wednesday. "I haven't seen any
paperwork on it or anything."
Swartz is free on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond.
