Coach Whose Towel Slipped Is Vindicated
A state appellate court has reversed the public indecency conviction of a high school coach who held a meeting with some of his students wearing only a towel that later fell off.
Jack Emsuer, a physical education teacher at Preble-Shawnee High School in Preble County, met with the students in his office next to the boys’ locker room and which was accessible only to male students and personnel.
The 12th Ohio District Court of Appeals held that the ordinary observer probably would not be offended by nudity in a men’s locker room and concluded that the state improperly applied the public indecency statute to Emsuer’s conduct.
case.
Emsuer was convicted in Preble County Common Pleas Court on two counts of public indecency.
He was sentenced to 10 days’ in jail and fined $100 on each count, with both penalties suspended if he performed 40 hours of community service.
Students who saw Emsuer naked had complained to school officials, who took the matter to police.
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