Recordpub.com - Ex-Ravenna teacher faces sex charges Arrested for soliciting police officer pretending to be 12-year-old

Home | Back

Ex-Ravenna teacher faces sex charges Arrested for soliciting police officer pretending to be 12-year-old

Email To A Friend
Printer Friendly
Comments

Dorothy Markulis

September 1, 2007

By Dorothy Markulis

Hudson Hub-Times reporter

HUDSON -- A former Ravenna teacher has been indicted on nine counts of importuning for allegedly communicating sexual acts on the Internet with who he thought was a 12-year-old girl, according to Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason.

Howard A. Kaplan, 57, was a teacher at Western Reserve Academy in Hudson when he was indicted. He has since resigned from the school. He also previously taught at Hudson High School.

Kaplan taught at Brown Junior High School in Ravenna in the early 1970s and at Ravenna High School in the early 1980s for a total of 13 years.

He was indicted after an investigation by the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Kaplan allegedly was engaged in computer conversations from May 10 to Aug. 21 with who he believed was a 12-year-old girl, but actually was a member of the task force, according to a press release issued by the prosecutor's office.

He was indicted this week on nine counts of importuning and one count of possession of criminal tools. The importuning charge refers to an adult soliciting sex from a minor using a computer.

Kaplan could not be reached for comment. According to Cuyahoga County Court records, no attorney for him is listed.

Russell Morrison, Western Reserve Academy spokesman, said Kaplan voluntarily left the academy after his arrest.

"He is no longer an employee," Morrison said.

According to Morrison, Kaplan, who lived with his wife in faculty housing on College Street, has vacated the campus house.

Kaplan taught at WRA from 1985 until 2002 and returned in 2006. Morrison said he could not comment on Kaplan's employment for years between 2002 and 2006. In 1999, Kaplan was awarded the Parents Chair for Distinguished Teaching after being appointed dean of faculty in 1994.

The prosecutor's office said Kaplan was arrested Aug. 23. Search warrants were executed at his home and office, which are both on campus.

"This indictment should remind all parents that there are predators online who have direct access to their children," Mason said.

Court officials said Kaplan is free on a $10,000 cash bond. His arraignment is set for Sept. 12 at the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.

The Hudson Hub Times is a sister newspaper of the Record-Courier.

Comments

By Posting to this site, you agree to our Terms of Service Be polite. Inappropriate posts may be removed. Recordpub.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post.

21.	Posted by twins18 September 13, 2007
	That was a pretty impressive group of teachers to have back in those days. Never would have expected to see those 2 become involved in such illicit behavior. Wondering how/what Dale Cockshutt has been up to.

20.	Posted by rover82 September 7, 2007
	Unreal. I, too, had Jividen and Kaplan at Brown Jr. Very sad. Kaplan is the reason I can still do algrebra 25 years later.

19.	Posted by Ohio Gal September 2, 2007
	twins18 They taught at the same schools years ago but just a few years back Jividen was arrested in a Cleveland suburb for fondling a young child he was tutoring in his home. He had been retired from teaching by that point but was tutoring and ended up serving l80 days in jail for the incident. Kaplan and Jividen both taught at Brown durning the late 70's and early 80's.

18.	Posted by twins18 September 2, 2007
	Am I to imply from ravens81 comment that Jividen was involved with this sort of scandalous behavior? Or were the schools they taught within the only similarity?

17.	Posted by wfedman2004 September 2, 2007
	The only reason he is looking like that is because he doun`t have his thick coke bottle glasses on anymore.

16.	Posted by wfedman2004 September 2, 2007
	yes

15.	Posted by AngelicCLK September 2, 2007
	Wow NoKoolAid...judging someone simply on a mug shot....let's see your mug shot on the front page of the newspaper and see how flattering you are. Mug shots aren't meant to be pretty or flattering.

14.	Posted by Ohio Gal September 1, 2007
	It is sad that they have to walk, but c'mon 20 kids that means 40 parents, even if we only have half that's 20 parents and does every single one of them go to work prior and not one of them there to help escort these kids. I'm all about protecting the kids in every way. We still have to teach our kids and find the good in the good people that are trying to give back. Remember this nut case did it online in his virtual world. Have you informed the Ravenna PD to maybe supervise that area with 20 kids and a large amount of pred's living near by. Please people educate your children, be vigilant without being a vigilante and know who your children, see, talk to, walk with, email with. It's a sad time that we have to even have these conversations. Most of us grew up in the time when we had to be home when the streetlights came on or the lightning bugs came out whichever was first. Sad thing is you could move out farther, put them on a bus to school and put them smack dab in front of a perv for school. There is already a teachers shortage and with all this stuff who would want to be a teacher. Lets not forget about the occasionally wrongfully accused teacher cuz lil Johnny or Susie wasn't happy. I'd hate to make teaching my career in this day and age. You'll either be looked at with caution because of your fellow bad teacher, could be accused of something your innocent of, or really just care about educating the future leaders of this country. I must end this as I will ramble about this for days on end. SASSY the first step is being aware and it looks as though you are, keep that vigilant eye open for your children as well as all the children of your neighborhood. We all need to come together and watch over all the children.

13.	Posted by Ohio Gal September 1, 2007
	It is sad that they have to walk, but c'mon 20 kids that means 40 parents, even if we only have half that's 20 parents and does every single one of them go to work prior and not one of them there to help escort these kids. I'm all about protecting the kids in every way. We still have to teach our kids and find the good in the good people that are trying to give back. Remember this nut case did it online in his virtual world. Have you informed the Ravenna PD to maybe supervise that area with 20 kids and a large amount of pred's living near by. Please people educate your children, be vigilant without being a vigilante and know who your children, see, talk to, walk with, email with. It's a sad time that we have to even have these conversations. Most of us grew up in the time when we had to be home when the streetlights came on or the lightning bugs came out whichever was first. Sad thing is you could move out farther, put them on a bus to school and put them smack dab in front of a perv for school. There is already a teachers shortage and with all this stuff who would want to be a teacher. Lets not forget about the occasionally wrongfully accused teacher cuz lil Johnny or Susie wasn't happy. I'd hate to make teaching my career in this day and age. You'll either be looked at with caution because of your fellow bad teacher, could be accused of something your innocent of, or really just care about educating the future leaders of this country. I must end this as I will ramble about this for days on end. SASSY the first step is being aware and it looks as though you are, keep that vigilant eye open for your children as well as all the children of your neighborhood. We all need to come together and watch over all the children.

12.	Posted by sassy44240 September 1, 2007
	This is really scary for me, because I have two girls that have to walk to school every day. I am not really concerned about my youngest, because it is not that far. My other daughter has to walk two miles every day with buses going past our road going to the high school and they cannot have a bus stop because we do not live further than two miles away. Give me a break Ravenna. With all the sexual offenders living from City Park to the High School and you can't stop and pick the kids up that have to walk to school. I see at least 20 kids every day walking that way and most of them are by themselves.

Next 10 Comments