For Greene County News

COLUMBUS — Attorney General Mike DeWine announced that former Cambridge city councilman and former Cambridge City School District school resource officer Paul D. Fields Jr. was sentenced today to six months in jail after he pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor sexual imposition and no contest to the charge of illegal use of a minor in nudity oriented material.

The incidents, involving an underage female student in the Cambridge City School District, occurred from January 2014 through Oct. 28, 2014.

“Crimes against children are among the most harmful and unsettling, especially when they involve someone sworn to protect children,” said Attorney General DeWine. “We will continue to be a resource for local authorities in pursuing these criminals and putting them behind bars.”

Fields, 52, was sentenced by Guernsey County Court of Common Pleas Judge David Ellwood to immediately serve six months in jail, followed by three years of community control, and Tier I sex offender registration by statute. The illegal use of a minor in nudity oriented material was a fifth-degree felony punishable by up to 12 months in jail; the sexual imposition counts were third-degree misdemeanors punishable by up to 60 days in jail.

The Ohio Attorney General’s Office, through its Crimes Against Children Unit, investigated the matter; the Special Prosecutions Section prosecuted the case at the request of the Guernsey County prosecutor. Through the Crimes Against Children Initiative begun by Attorney General DeWine in 2011, local authorities can request help with investigations and prosecutions, forensic analysis, training, and technical assistance, equipment loans, and victim advocacy.