Prosecutor Challenges Appellate Ruling Barring 'Other Acts' Evidence to Show Defendant's Plan to Sexually Abuse Teen

State of Ohio v. Van Williams, Case no. 2011-2094

Eighth District Court of Appeals (Cuyahoga County)

ISSUE: In a case involving alleged sexual abuse of a teenage male by a male adult after he established a relationship as the victim's mentor, do the Ohio Rules of Evidence allow the state to introduce at trial "other acts" evidence disclosing to the jury that the defendant engaged in a sexual relationship with a different teenaged male 12 years earlier, at a time when Williams was that boy's high school sports coach?