Accused sex offender gets 1 "symbolic" day in jail
Sex charges dropped for 1 jail day BY SHEILA MCLAUGHLIN | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER Monti's Photo LEBANON – A former assistant principal accused of sexually assaulting a student he took in as a foster child was sent to jail Tuesday for one day as part of a plea agreement that included dropping all sex charges. Saying the brief jail stay was a “symbolic” step to show that child victims “will be listened to,” Judge James Flannery of Warren County Common Pleas Court also sentenced Thomas Monti to five years on probation and sex offender counseling if needed. Monti, 59, who was forced to retire as assistant principal at Lebanon Junior School, was ordered to turn in his Ohio teaching certificate and his foster care license. He also can’t be around anyone under 18 until a sex counselor completes an assessment, the judge said. Monti pleaded no contest last month to one count of felonious assault involving a 14-year-old girl who was staying with him and his wife in 2004. In exchange, 15 felony charges of sexual battery were dismissed. Flannery said he was bound by the plea agreement. He noted that prosecutors had serious flaws in their case because there were no corroborating witnesses or physical evidence to the sexual abuse.