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David Knox and Loren Genson ❙ The Gazette

INSIDERichard Baabtalks aboutlosing his son,Deven, tosuicide, A3

BUSINESS........... B6CLASSIFIEDS....C1

COMICS ........C2-3LOTTERY ..............A2

OBITUARIES........A6OPINION .......... A4

WEATHER..........A2YOURTOWN ....B5INDEX

W W W . M E D I N A - G A Z E T T E . C O M C H A T T E R A T W W W . F A C E B O O K . C O M / M E D I N A G A Z E T T E

Loretta M. Cole, on Wednesday’s Gazette story about Kevin Dunn’s appointment as juvenile andprobate judge to replace the retiring John Lohn: “I wish Judge John Lohn a healthy and happyretirement. Congrats to Kevin Dunn!”

ANATOMYBoy’s death raises questions about law, school policiesOF A TEEN SUICIDE

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Mahoney reported the boy also claimed his father was beat-ing him. The counselor said she was aware of that, too.

“We’ve heard from several parents and other people aboutwhat Deven says,” she said the counselor told her.

Mahoney pressed.“What are you going to do about it?” she asked. “I want to

know when I hang up you’re going to do something aboutthis.”

Mahoney told The Gazette she assumed the counselorwould alert child welfare authorities or at least call the boy’s

father.She was wrong on both counts.

The counselor, Julia Schwendeman, and otherstaff members had been in contact with the

father since mid-October about reportsDeven was showing other students

self-inflicted cuts on his wristand, later, scratches on his chest.

But on the day Mahoneycalled — Nov. 16 — neither shenor any other school officialscalled the father.

Nor had any school officialreported the boy might havebeen abused by his father.

That fact triggered a five-month investigation byMedina Township and Med-ina city police.

The story of the investiga-tion, which ended with

prosecutors declining tobring charges, raises ques-tions about the effectiveness

of Ohio laws and school dis-trict policies aimed at protecting

children:

■ Although Ohio requires schoolofficials and dozens of other types of

professionals to report suspected childabuse and neglect, there is no similarstatute requiring anyone to report if achild is suicidal.

See QUESTIONS, A2

F our days before 14-year-old Deven

Baab’s suicide, the mother of one of

his classmates called a counselor at

Claggett Middle School and warned the boy

was talking about killing himself.

Kimberly Mahoney said the counselor reas-

sured her.

“This has been an ongoing thing. We’re

working on it,” she remembered the coun-

selor saying.

DAVID KNOX /GAZETTE

CONTROVERSYFLARES UP

Dan PompiliThe Gazette

About 100 residents inLafayette and Litchfield town-ships have received letters inthe last week from ColumbiaGas Transmission seeking tostore natural gas beneath theirproperty.

Columbia owns and operates11 gas storage fields in Ohio,including the Wellington fieldthat covers parts of Medina andLorain counties.

Cavities between rock forma-tions, left empty after gas isextracted through drilling, fre-quently are used to store naturalgas extracted elsewhere. Gas isstored during low-usage timeslike summer and withdrawnwhen it is needed as tempera-tures drop.

The letter from Columbia saysit intends to buy the land for $50an acre and a one-time $200incentive. It also says if thelandowner does not respond byFriday, Columbia will “proceed

Gasutilityseeksland

Rapetrialdelayed

Nick GluntThe Gazette

MEDINA — The trial of a 79-year-old Medina man accused ofmolesting two children, sched-uled to start this week, was post-poned for a second time to deter-mine whether he’s mentally andphysically fit to stand trial.

Robert D. Law, a notary wholives at 4898 Century Oak Circle,had his trial before MedinaCounty Common Pleas JudgeChristopher J. Collier delayedJune 5 for the same reason.

Law is set to undergo a “geri-atric assessment,” which defenseattorney Matthew P. Gaeckle said“is necessary to present a properdefense,” according to courtrecords.

Gaeckle did not return a callseeking comment Wednesday.

Collier’s bailiff said the trial willbe rescheduled once the assess-ment is complete.

Law is charged with threecounts of raping a child under

BROWNS B1CE0 Banner talks about Haslam

See GAS, A6

See TRIAL, A5

TIMELINEOctober 2012: Richard Baab is contacted by acounselor at Medina’s Claggett Middle School and toldhis 13-year-old son, Deven, was showing other studentsself-inflicted cuts on his wrist and talking about suicide.Several meetings among Baab, his son and school staffmembers seem to be helping.Wednesday, Oct. 31: Baab receives a phone call fromthe counselor, Julia Schwendeman, reporting the boyagain was displaying self-inflicted superficial cuts on hiswrist. Following a meeting, Baab takes his son to AkronChildren’s Hospital, where he is discharged two hourslater with a diagnosis of “cutting without plans ofsuicide,” according to reports.Thursday, Nov. 1: Schwendeman follows up with a callto Richard Baab. He tells her that he is consideringputting Deven in a partial hospitalization program — “ifone more thing happens.”Thursday, Nov. 15: A classmate of Deven shows hismother, Kimberly Mahoney, a text message from the boystating that he was going to kill himself. Mahoney callsDeven on his cell phone and they talk for about 20minutes.Friday, Nov. 16: Kimberly Mahoney calls ClaggettMiddle School and tells Schwendeman about the callwith Deven. Although the boy denied wanting to killhimself, Mahoney says she was convinced the boy wasin danger.Sunday, Nov. 18: Deven turns 14 years old.Monday, Nov. 19: Deven texts on his iPod with friendswho plead with him not to kill himself. Deven stoppedresponding at 9:20 p.m. and did not respond to severalcalls and text messages from the mother of one of thefriends who was concerned.Tuesday, Nov. 20: Richard Baab goes to wake up hisson for school and discovers him dead by hanging.Wednesday, Nov. 21: Medina Township Police OfficerMichael Oyler, assigned to investigate the suicidebecause the Baabs live in the township, unlocks Deven’scell phone and discovers a photo the boy sent to afriend of a necktie hanging from the ceiling fan in hisbedroom.Friday, Nov. 23: Oyler interviews a school friend andwas told Deven had “been talking about wanting to do itfor the past three or four weeks.” The Monday eveningbefore his death, Deven chatted on his iPod with severalfemale friends: “The tone of the conversation turnednegative for no apparent reason and Deven begantalking about killing himself.”Thursday, Dec. 6: Richard Baab calls Oyler about a“disturbing voicemail” found on Deven’s phone fromKimberly Mahoney’s son. Oyler interviews Mahoney thatsame day and learns about her Nov. 16 call toSchwendeman. Mahoney says that in addition to tellingclassmates he was going to kill himself, Deven alsoclaimed his father beat him. Oyler talks to Richard Baab,who says he knew his son had been telling friends hewas abused at home.Oyler interviews several of Deven’s friends and familymembers and finds no evidence the boy had ever beenbeaten. He also finds several instances where the boyhad told untruths — including that his mother was dead.But Oyler also determines that school officials had notreported the suspected abuse, in possible violation of astate law.Friday, Dec. 28: After getting a status report from Oyler,Medina Township police Sgt. Todd Zieja meets withMedina County Prosecutor Dean Holman, who “statedthat he wanted me to continue my investigation into theallegation that Deven was being abused by his fatherand whether the abuse was reported or not.”Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013: Zieja requests the cooperationof Medina police to complete the investigation,explaining that while the suicide occurred in thetownship, the school and the possible “failure to reportoccurred with the city limits.”Thursday, Jan. 3: Medina city police Lt. DavidBirckbichler declines, saying his department wouldparticipate only “if directed to” by the prosecutor’soffice.Wednesday, Jan. 23: Oyler sends a copy of his reportto the county prosecutor, requesting a decision on whoshould continue the investigation.Saturday, Feb. 2: County Assistant Prosecutor MichaelMcNamara responds with a letter saying the countywouldn’t handle the case because failing to reportsuspected child abuse was a misdemeanor. He advisestaking the case to the Medina city prosecutor.Monday, March 4: A copy of Oyler’s report is sent toRichard Barbara, one of Medina’s three part-timeprosecutors.Tuesday, March 5: Oyler receives a letter from anothercity prosecutor, Kevin W. Dunn, who declines to take thecase, questioning whether it successfully could beprosecuted under the state statute. Zieja makes anappointment to see Dunn.Tuesday, March 12: Zieja and Oyler speak briefly withDunn, who says neither the city prosecutor’s office northe city police will have any more to do with the case.He suggests Baab should “seek a civil remedy,” by filinga lawsuit. Zieja and Oyler discuss their concerns withthe city’s third prosecutor, J. Matthew Lanier, whoagrees to speak with his boss, city Law Director GregoryA. Huber.Thursday, March 14: Oyler receives a call from cityPolice Chief Patrick Berarducci asking for a meeting todiscuss the case.Friday, March 15: Zieja and Oyler meet with Berarducci,who agrees to cooperate in an investigation and assignsDetective Amy Kerr to the case.Monday, March 18: Kerr and Oyler conduct a nearlyhourlong interview at Claggett Middle School withSchwendeman and a secretary who also had spoken toMahoney on Nov. 16. Also present for the interview wasJim Shields, the school district’s legal counsel.Thursday and Friday, March 21-22: Kerr talks to asocial worker and an intake screener at Medina CountyJob and Family Services.Monday, March 25: Richard Baab comes to the MedinaPolice Department and signs a release form for his son’smedical records.Tuesday, March 26: Kerr receives a 26-page report onDeven’s Oct. 31 evaluation at Akron Children’s Hospital.Friday, March 29: Kerr checks with Summit CountyChildren Services and finds no reports involving theBaab family. A check with a statewide databasemaintained by the Ohio Department of Job and FamilyServices also comes up empty.Monday, April 8: Oyler and Kerr file their final reportswith the city prosecutor.Wednesday, April 24: Prosecutor Lanier responds in aletter, declining to bring charges: “We do not believe‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ that either” Schwendemanor a school secretary had cause to suspect Deven Baab“was being abused or neglected.”

ANATOMY OF A TEEN SUICIDE

Cyan A2 magenta A2 yellow A2 black A2

A2 Thursday, July 25, 2013 The GazetteFROM PAGE ONE

WEATHER WATCHTODAY: Mostly sunny ...........................................75/53FRIDAY: Sunny and calm .....................................79/62SATURDAY: Chance of showers ........................76/60SUNDAY: Cloudy with some sun .........................73/57

CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATIONS

July 25, 2013, No. 177Medina (non-toll area).................(330) 725-4166

All other Ohio areas....... (800) 633-4623Copyright © 2013, The Medina Gazette

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EDITOR ................(330) 721-4065David Knox

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LOTTERY RESULTSOhio (Wednesday)

Midday Pick 3: 8-1-8, Pick 3: 7-4-6,Midday Pick 4: 8-7-2-6, Pick 4: 8-7-2-2,Midday Pick 5: 5-1-1-2-2, Pick 5: 9-1-1-3-7,Classic Lotto: 3-16-25-36-40-44, Kicker: 7-9-0-7-3-1,Rolling Cash 5: 4-5-8-13-28.Next Rolling Cash 5 jackpot is $206,000.Next Classic Lotto jackpot is $4.16 million.

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Next Mega Millions jackpot is an estimated $19 million.

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Powerball jackpot is an estimated $166 million.

Out of stateMICHIGAN (WEDNESDAY) — Daily 3: 4-4-2, Daily 4: 9-2-4-1

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ALMANAC

■ Teachers are well aware of their duty to report suspectedabuse or neglect. The state law widely is publicized. But thelaw rarely is prosecuted. Some legal scholars say the languageof the statute is flawed, making enforcement difficult.■ The Medina school board’s bylaws and policies includestep-by-step procedures staff members should follow if con-fronted with a suicidal student. However, there are no specificguidelines explaining how to handle third-party reports, suchas Mahoney’s, from outside the school.■ School officials made no formal inquiry to evaluate thestaff’s response to Mahoney’s warning to determine whetherthe board’s policies and procedures could be improved. Nor isthere anything in the school district’s files that indicates therewas a police investigation.

While Schwendeman declined to comment for this story,school administrators voiced their support.

“The police did an investigation and the prosecutor did aninvestigation and no charges were filed,” Kris Quallich, thedistrict’s director of student services, said. “If you’re askingme if we think she should have done something different, Ithink our answer is no.”

Investigation begins

I t’s doubtful there would have been an investiga-tion if the boy’s father, Richard Baab, had not told

police about a “disturbing voicemail” he found onhis son’s cell phone two weeks after his son’s death.

The message, left 10 days before the suicide, clearly indi-cated Deven Baab had been talking about killing himselfweeks before his death.

It was from Mahoney’s son. Following up on that lead ishow Medina Township police Officer Michael Oyler learned ofMahoney’s encounter with the counselor.

Oyler, who was the primary investigator because the Baabslived in the township, already had contacted Schwendemanand Claggett Assistant Principal Shannon Thibodeau whileretrieving the contents of Deven Baab’s locker.

But Oyler learned about the allegations of abuse fromMahoney.

Mahoney told Oyler that the night before she called theschool her son had shown her text messages from the boystating he was going to kill himself.

She said she called the boy’s cell phone and they talked forabout 20 minutes.

“Deven told her he was being abused at home and that’swhy he was saying that he wanted to kill himself,” Oyler wrotein his report, which The Gazette obtained.

At one point in the interview, Mahoney “started crying andexplained that she wanted to take some type of action herselfbut Julia (Schwendeman) told her several times that the ‘pro-fessionals’ were ‘working on it,’ ” Oyler wrote in the report.

Mahoney said she asked Schwendeman if anyone hadreported the abuse. She said Schwendeman told her the“proper authorities were contacted,” the report said.

That wasn’t true.Oyler, a 17-year veteran police officer and a member of the

Medina County Domestic and Sexual Violence Taskforce,checked both with Medina police and Medina County Joband Family Services.

“Neither had any record or reports of abuse involvingDeven or his father,” he reported.

No evidence of abuse

Oyler launched his own investigation and soonconcluded Richard Baab hadn’t been beating

his son.After interviewing several of the boy’s friends and family

members, including the boy’s mother, he wrote in his report“no one that I spoke with ever witnessed any signs of physicalabuse.”

Oyler discovered the boy had said other things that weren’ttrue. He had told some friends his mother lived in Florida.His parents were divorced, but his mother lived in Mansfieldand often saw him.

The boy told others the reason he wanted to kill himselfwas because his mother had died in a car crash “and the doc-tor told him if he had gotten her to the hospital just a fewminutes sooner, they could have saved her,” Oyler reported.

The boy told a different group of friends the reason hewanted to die “was because his girlfriend was killed on hisbirthday,” Oyler wrote.

Oyler also found evidence Richard Baab was a concernedfather.

Immediately after an Oct. 31 meeting with Schwendemanand a teacher at Claggett about Deven displaying to otherstudents self-inflicted cuts on his wrist, Baab took his son toAkron Children’s Hospital. Deven was discharged two hourslater with a diagnosis of “cutting without plans of suicide,”Oyler reported.

The next day, when Schwendeman followed up withanother call, Baab told her he was considering putting his sonin a “partial hospitalization plan” and was investigating out-patient counseling.

Baab said he stressed to Schwendeman that he wanted tobe called “for any matters concerning Deven,” saying “if onemore thing happens, he’s taking him back to the hospital andhe’s staying,” Oyler reported.

Oyler noted Baab was “very surprised and upset” when toldabout Mahoney’s call to Schwendeman. Baab said he kept hisson home that day because Deven had a stomachache. Hereported the absence using the school’s automated phonesystem.

“On the very same day Deven was absent from school,another parent called the school because they were obviouslyconcerned for Deven’s safety and well-being,” Baab said,according to Oyler’s report. “Yet no one from the school calledme or the police?”

At that point, Baab “broke down in tears,” Oyler wrote.

Law doesn’t coversuicide threats

While Baab is convinced his son’s death couldhave been prevented if someone called him

that Friday, that wasn’t the focus of the police inves-tigation. It couldn’t be. There is no Ohio law requir-ing anyone to report a child might be consideringsuicide.

Ohio isn’t unusual.“Virginia is the only state with a statute that explicitly

requires reporting of suspected suicide risk by all licensedadministrative or instructional school personnel,” said WylieG. Tene, spokesman for the American Foundation for

QUESTIONSFrom A1

See QUESTIONS, A3

The Associated Press

Today is the 206th day of2013. There are 159 days left inthe year.

TODAY’S HISTORY:■ In 1963, the United States,the Soviet Union and Britaininitialed a treaty in Moscowprohibiting the testing ofnuclear weapons in theatmosphere, in space orunderwater. The treaty for-mally was signed on Aug. 5,1963.■ In 1866, Ulysses S. Grantwas named general of theArmy of the United States, thefirst officer to hold the rank.■ In 1898, the United Statesinvaded Puerto Rico duringthe Spanish-American War.■ In 1909, French aviatorLouis Bleriot became the firstperson to fly an airplane

across the English Channel,traveling from Calais to Doverin 37 minutes.■ In 1943, Benito Mussoliniwas dismissed as premier ofItaly by King Victor EmmanuelIII and placed under arrest.However, Mussolini later wasrescued by the Nazis and re-asserted his authority.■ In 1946, the United Statesdetonated an atomic bombnear Bikini Atoll in the Pacificin the first underwater test ofthe device.■ In 1952, Puerto Rico becamea self-governing common-wealth of the United States.■ In 1956, the Italian linerAndrea Doria collided with theSwedish passenger ship Stock-holm off the New Englandcoast late at night and begansinking; at least 51 peoplewere killed.

The Gazette is seek-ing weather pic-tures from area stu-dents. A weatherform may beobtained byemailinglsheaffer@medina-gazette.com.Teachers may sub-mit pictures fromtheir class.For moreinformation, call (330) 721-4060.

KIDS’ VIEWS

Brock BelsoleGranger Elementary

Editor’s note: Fax public meetingnotices to (330) 725-4299 or emailareanews@medina-gazette.com. Paidlegal notices, which appear in theclassified advertising section of thenewspaper, should be emailed tolegalnotices@medina-gazette.com.

TodayHinckley Township Zoning

Commission, preliminary site plan

review, 7 p.m., townshipadministration building, 1410Ridge Road.

Medina Township trustees,special meeting for Cook Road bidopening and public hearing forfour zoning text amendments,7 p.m., township hall, 3799Huffman Road.

York Township trustees, regularmeeting, 6:30 p.m., fire stationcomplex, 6609 Norwalk Road.

ANATOMY OF A TEEN SUICIDE

The Gazette Thursday, July 25, 2013 A3FROM PAGE ONE

Suicide Prevention. “No federal law addressesthis issue.”

There was an Ohio law that might havebeen broken — the statute requiring teach-ers and other professionals to report sus-pected child abuse and neglect.

On Dec. 28, Oyler entered into his notesthat his supervisor, Sgt. Todd A. Zieja, hadmet with Medina County Prosecutor DeanHolman and got the OK to investigate thefailure to report the possible abuse.

Records show the investigation wentnowhere for nearly two months — boggeddown in wrangling between the townshipand city over who had jurisdiction in thecase and whether it was proper to investi-gate school employees for not reportingabuse that never occurred.

Medina Township police contended theinvestigation required the cooperation of theMedina Police Department because ClaggettMiddle School is within the city limits.

But when Oyler forwarded his report toMedina police on Jan. 3, his request for ajoint investigation was turned down.

“They will only investigate this if theyreceived a letter from Prosecutor Dean Hol-man indicating they need to,” Zieja wrote inhis notes.

But the county prosecutor’s office also wasbacking away.

Two weeks after Oyler submitted his initialreport on Jan. 23, Zieja received a letter fromcounty Assistant Prosecutor Michael McNa-mara saying his office wouldn’t handle thecase because failing to report suspectedchild abuse was a misdemeanor.

Failing to report suspected abuse is afourth-degree misdemeanor punishable byno more than 30 days in jail and a $250 fine.The charge rises to a first-degree misde-meanor if the abuse occurred.

McNamara suggested taking the case tothe Medina city prosecutor.

Jurisdiction dispute

Z ieja took McNamara’s advice andbriefed Richard Barbera, one of the

city’s three part-time prosecutors. Acopy of Oyler’s report was sent to himon March 4.

The next day, Oyler received a letter — thistime from another city prosecutor, Kevin W.Dunn.

Dunn not only declined to take the case,saying there was insufficient evidence to filecharges, he questioned whether the casecould be successfully prosecuted under thestate statute.

Zieja and Oyler made a March 12 appoint-ment with Dunn to plead their case in per-son.

“We explained that the matter needs to beinvestigated further to find out whether thealleged abuse was reported or not,” Oylerwrote in his report.

Dunn was unmoved and suggested RichardBaab “seek a civil remedy,” by filing a lawsuit,according to Oyler’s report. But the city’sthird prosecutor, J. Matthew Lanier, agreed tospeak with his boss, city Law Director Gre-gory A. Huber.

Two days later, Oyler got a call from Med-ina Police Chief Patrick Berarducci. Followinga meeting the following day, the chief agreedto participate in the investigation andassigned Detective Amy Kerr to the case.

Kerr moved quickly, notifying Oyler thatsame day that an interview with Schwende-man was scheduled for March 18.

Conflicting accounts

In separate reports about the nearlyhour-long interview, Oyler and Kerr

wrote that Schwendeman acknowl-edged not reporting the alleged abuse.

She gave several reasons why.She said she had “prior knowledge” that child

welfare authorities already had been alerted.Schwendeman said, “The allegations of

abuse ‘really heightened’ in the summer of2012 and to her knowledge that was whenMCJ&FS (Medina County Jobs and Family Serv-ices) was involved, came out and Dad had togo through an investigation,” Kerr wrote in herreport.

She also said that during their Oct. 31 meet-ing at the school about Deven cutting himself,Baab “was the one who brought up the abuseissue” and had told her he “had to deal with it.”

As for Mahoney’s phone call, Schwendemansaid she didn’t report it because officials atMedina County Job and Family Services hadtold her “in the past they would want the infor-mation to come from the actual source” andnot a third party, Kerr wrote in her report. “Sheencouraged Mrs. Mahoney to call (MCJ&FS).”

Schwendeman also assumed the doctors atAkron Children’s Hospital who examinedDeven would have reported “if there were anysigns of physical abuse,” Oyler noted in hisreport.

Oyler and Kerr reported finding conflicts

with some of Schwendeman’s statements.Oyler re-interviewed Baab, who denied

telling Schwendeman child-care authoritieshad contacted him about his son’s claims ofabuse.

“At no time did I discuss anything pertainingto Children Services with her,” Baab said,according to Oyler’s report.

Oyler concluded that Schwendeman’s claimof “prior knowledge” that child welfare authori-ties had been involved “was based on hearsayfrom other middle school students and/or theirparents.”

Kerr interviewed an intake social worker atMedina County Job and Family Services andwas told that the agency expects teachers andother professionals, as required by law, “to callin concerns of abuse or neglect, even with thirdparty information.”

Another staff member at the agency told Kerrthat Schwendeman was “one of their ‘regularcallers,’ ” adding, “She seemed very concernedfor her students.”

Case closed

Kerr also confirmed there was norecord of a report by Schwende-

man or anyone else concerning theBaab family in the county or the stateJob and Family Services computer sys-tems.

A check of the city police computer foundSchwendeman involved in several reports,including a 2012 report of parents abusingdrugs and a March 7 report of physical abuse ofa child by a parent.

But again, “There was nothing found forRichard or Deven Baab,” Kerr noted.

On April 8, Oyler and Kerr filed their finalreports with the city prosecutor.

Prosecutor Lanier responded in a letter,dated April 24.

In declining to bring charges, Lanier did notcontest the facts presented in the officers’report. He also agreed that Ohio’s child abusestatute did apply to Schwendeman, as well as asecretary who also heard Mahoney’s state-ments.

“However, we do not believe ‘beyond a rea-sonable doubt’ that either had reasonablecause to suspect” that Deven Baab “was beingabused or neglected necessitating furtherreporting,” Lanier wrote. “As such, our officehas declined to pursue a criminal chargeagainst either person at this time.”

Oyler and Zieja said they were not author-ized to comment on the case.

Is law flawed?

Several legal scholars contactedby The Gazette said Lanier probably

made the right call — although theydisagreed on the reasons why.

Carmen Naso, an assistant professor at CaseWestern Reserve’s School of Law, said the lan-guage of the Ohio law makes it extremely diffi-cult to prosecute.

While the statute is very specific about whomust report suspected abuse and neglect — inthe four decades since the law was passed in1969, the list of professionals covered hasgrown to nearly 30 — Naso said it is vagueabout when they must report.

“Just look at the statute,” he said. “The claimthat the child makes or the circumstances thatthe teacher or coach sees must lead a reason-able person to have reasonable suspicionunder a reasonable interpretation of the cir-cumstances that this kid is a victim of abuse.

“Any statute that contains the word ‘reason-able’ in three different contexts in one sentence… leaves me scratching my head as to howpeople are supposed to understand what theirresponsibilities are under the law.

“I fault the Legislature for that.”Naso has practiced law for 30 years, includ-

ing seven as supervisor for the CuyahogaCounty Juvenile Justice Unit.

“We like it when the Legislature tells us inblack and white what we can prosecute andwhat we can’t,” he said. “It would be great ifthey could clarify this statute and not make itso dependent upon facts that are subject tointerpretation.”

Statistics unavailable

How often prosecutors haveattempted to use the law is

unclear.The Ohio Department of Job and Family

Services, which oversees county child protec-tive services that investigate reports of abuseand neglect, doesn’t keep count.

“We do not track the number of mandatedreporters prosecuted for failing to report,” Ben-jamin Johnson, deputy director of the depart-ment’s Office of Communications, said.

Checks with other state agencies also cameup empty.

The Ohio Supreme Court keeps statistics onthe number of cases handled by the state’scourts but not what crimes are charged.

The Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Servicesdoes tabulate crimes from police and sheriff’sdepartments across the state for the FBI’s Uni-

Father loses his son two daysafter celebrating his birthday

Deven had just turned 14 thatSunday.

In the first few days after his son’sdeath, Baab was numb with painand anger.

“I just remember living throughthe day,” he said. “For a monthstraight I would just lay in my bed. Iwouldn’t do anything.”

Since then he has become a manobsessed with re-examining everyaspect leading up to his son’sdeath.

A week after his death, Baabwrote a 30-page journal document-ing events in his son’s short life inan effort to explain the unexplain-able: Why would a child want todie?

Now he is speaking out in hopesthat Deven’s story might saveanother child’s life.

“I’m willing to do whatever I canto stop this from happening tosomeone else’s child,” he said dur-ing one of a series of interviewswith The Gazette.

Challenges

Baab said that in mostways, Deven was like any

other boy. He enjoyed playingvideo games, hanging outwith his friends and the out-doors.

“He liked being outside, havingbonfires outside, cutting trees downwith an ax,” Baab said.

He liked building things out ofwood. Last Christmas he made acabinet for his mother and a stoolfor his half-sister.

He liked cooking, his father said.“He was a good kid, he liked to

cook his own dinners, make mebreakfast — mac and cheese,scrambled eggs, bacon,” Baab said.

Baab and his son had an unusu-ally close relationship. Baab and hiswife, Janet, divorced when Devenwas 2 years old.

Until he started school, the boy

would stay two weeks with Baaband two weeks with his mother.

After that, Deven lived with hisfather and only spent weekendswith his mother, who moved toMansfield.

Baab said he wanted his son tolive with him, “I just thought Iwould be a better parent.”

A graduate of Highland HighSchool and the Medina CountyJoint Vocational School, Baab, 48, isa self-employed welder.

He said his ex-wife maintained agood relationship with Deven andshe was consulted on all majordecisions involving the boy.

Most of those decisions involvedproblems Deven faced in school.

The boy fell behind in readingand spelling in first grade and even-tually was diagnosed with attentiondeficit hyperactivity disorder by hisfamily doctor and a school psychol-ogist.

He was placed in an individual-ized education plan while in ele-mentary school in Medina.

Deven was still behind by thetime he entered the sixth grade —his first year at Claggett MiddleSchool — and the family doctorprescribed Concerta, a longer-act-ing version of Ritalin.

Kiera Manion-Fischer ❙ The Gazette

R ichard Baab doesn’t want another parent to livethrough his nightmare. On Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012, Baabwent to his son’s bedroom to wake him up for school

and found the boy had hanged himself.

See LOST, A6

See QUESTIONS, A5

QUESTIONSFrom A2 I n the last 10 months, Medina County has lost four

teenagers to suicide — twice the number of youngsters

who had taken their own lives in the previous two years.

Deven Baab was one of two juvenile suicides reported in

the county in the last half of 2012.

So far this year, two more deaths of teenagers have been

ruled suicide, according to the Medina County Child Fatal-

ity Review Board, which compiles information on everyone

who dies under the age of 18.

The review board reported only one suicide of a child in

Medina County in 2010 and one in 2011.

Statewide in 2011, the last year data are available, Ohio

reported 55 suicide deaths of residents under 17 — nearly

double the 28 reported the year before.

The county review boards send data to the Ohio Depart-

ment of Health, which publishes an annual Ohio Child

Fatality Review.

The most recent report, published last year covering

deaths in 2010, provides a demographic portrait of the

youngsters most at risk: suburban boys, like Deven Baab.

Boys represented 86 percent of child suicides in 2010 but

make up only 51 percent of the childhood population.

The report also found 29 percent of child suicides hap-

pened in suburban counties, while suburban teens only

make up 18 percent of the population.— Loren Genson

PHOTOS PROVIDED

Deven Baab at age 13.

The Gazette Thursday, July 25, 2013 A5FROM PAGE ONE

Cyan A5 magenta A5 yellow A5 black A5

form Crime Reporting pro-gram — but only for eight cat-egories: murder, rape, robbery,aggravated assault, burglary,larceny, vehicle theft andarson.

Has the law ever been used?“I’m not aware of any cases

in Ohio where this has beenprosecuted,” said KatherineHunt Federle, a professor atOhio State University’s MoritzCollege of Law who special-ized in the juvenile justice sys-tem. “That doesn’t mean theyhaven’t. But I’m just not awareof them.

“It’s possible that they’vebeen prosecuted in a countybut it never made the news orit never was appealed.”

Law rarelyprosecuted

AGazette search of acommercial database

of Ohio newspapers andother resources did turnup four instances — overmore than a dozen years— of the law being used.

Two of the cases ended indismissals:■ In 1999, an Akron ministerwas charged with failing toreport suspected sexual abuseof a 14-year-old girl by anadult church member. A newsstory at the time reported cityProsecutor Douglas Powleysaying he did not recall thelaw being used in the previous10 years.

■ In 2005, a former highschool principal in New Rich-mond, near Cincinnati, wasaccused of failing to report analleged sexual encounterbetween a student and coach.

Defendants in the other twocases were convicted. Bothinvolved extreme abuse andneglect:■ A 64-year-old therapist inLorain County pleaded guiltyin 2007 to failing to report theabuse of adopted childrenwho were kept in caged beds.■ Earlier this month, a 51-year-old Montgomery Countydoctor pleaded no contest tocharges of failing to report theneglect of a 14-year-old girlwho had cerebral palsy andweighed 28 pounds when she

died. Dr. Margaret Edwards, ofTrotsville, near Dayton, faces amaximum of 18 months in jailwhen sentenced next month.

Like Naso, Federle didn’tquestion the Medina city pros-ecutor’s decision not to filecharges, saying, “He has thediscretion to make that call.”

But she saw no flaw in thelaw.

“The statute is very clear,”she said. “I don’t see any prob-lem with the statute.”

Then why so few prosecu-tions?

“Because people report,”Federle suggested. “That’s theother possible interpretation.”

No guidelines forthird-party calls

I f Ohio’s child abuseand neglect law is

rarely prosecuted, Vir-ginia’s law requiring edu-cators to report suspectedsuicidal children is usedless — even though it isnot a criminal statute.The penalty for notreporting isn’t jail time ora fine but loss of a teach-ing license.

That hasn’t happened in the14 years since the law wasenacted.

“According to our LicensureDivision, no licenses havebeen revoked because of non-reporting a potential suicide,”said Julie Grimes, spokes-woman for the VirginiaDepartment of Education.

While Ohio doesn’t have astate law dictating how to han-dle reports of suicidal chil-dren, many school districtshave adopted their own poli-cies and procedures.

Medina’s is posted on itswebsite:

“The Board directs allschool personnel to be alert tothe student who exhibits signsof unusual depression or whothreatens or attempts suicide.Any such signs or the report ofsuch signs from another stu-dent or staff member shouldbe taken with the utmost seri-ousness.”

The policy further directs thesuperintendent to develop“administrative guidelineswhereby members of the profes-sional staff understand how touse an intervention procedure.”

A copy of that policy andprocedures was given to Med-ina police during the investi-gation, along with an emailfrom Schwendeman to the dis-trict’s legal counsel, JimShields, detailing her actionsfollowing the Oct. 31 report ofDeven hurting himself:■ “Father came in immedi-ately and took Deven to ERwhere he was assessed. Followup counseling appt. scheduledby Mr. Baab.”■ “All office staff were madeaware, teachers were on alert.Mr. Baab allowed the counselingstaff to facilitate communicationbetween Deven and friends tolet them know he was safe.”■ “Regular check ins with staff,teachers and Mr. Baab asneeded.”■ “Support for friends andpeers continuous.”

But nothing in the emailaddresses Mahoney’s call onNov. 16.

The difference betweenSchwendeman’s response tothe cutting report and herreaction to Mahoney’s callraises a key issue: the district’slack of guidance concerningthird-party reports.

While providing step-by-step instructions telling staffmembers precisely what to dowhen faced with a suicidalstudent, the guidelines con-tain nothing about how torespond to a warning fromsomeone outside the school,such as a parent.

Medina’s teachers aren’talone in lacking direction onhow to handle calls likeMahoney’s.

Suggestedimprovements

The district’s “SuicideIntervention Process”

guidelines are based on“templates” provided byNEOLA, a national con-sulting firm based inStow.

CEO Richard N. Clapp con-firmed that his firm, whichprovides consulting servicesfor two-thirds of Ohio’sapproximately 600 school dis-tricts and about 1,250 districtsacross the nation, does notoffer any recommendationson how to respond to reportsfrom outside the school abouta possibly suicidal child.

“Our templates don’t addressthat,” he said. “No one has everraised the question … about athird-party call coming in.”

Asked if he thought theguidelines should be revised,Clapp said, “We need to thinkabout this.”

Clapp said Deven Baab’sdeath could be a catalyst forimproving the guidelines.

“When you have circum-stances like this, that gives youan opportunity to either learnfrom it or run from it,” he said.“In our case, we’ll learn from it.

“We’re already in theprocess of how we make ourpolicies better in this regardbecause it’s such a sensitivetopic. It’s one of those thingsnobody wants to talk aboutbecause we don’t want tothink it’s going to happen inour school.

“But it’s happening withgreater frequency and we needto figure out how we do that.”

But Clapp stressed the limitsof what schools can do aboutwhat happens outside theirbuildings — especially giventhe restrictions of federal pri-vacy laws.

“The school can’t be respon-sible for everything that hap-pens in the community 24-7when they don’t have first-hand knowledge; we just can’texpect that of our schools,”said Clapp, who served 12years as superintendent of theWoodridge school district inSummit County. “It is challeng-ing enough to deal with whatthey have to deal with in thistime that we’re living in —when kids are under all sorts ofother pressures that we neverwere under when I was a boy.”

Clapp suggested the bestway to handle calls from par-ents and others would be tocompile a list of phone num-bers of the local suicide hot-line and other social servicesresources “and say these arethe people you should callright now.”

District: Nochange needed

A sked about the lackof specific guidelines

for handling third-partycalls, Kris Quallich, theMedina Schools’ directorof student services, con-tended no change in pro-cedures is needed.

ANATOMY OF A TEEN SUICIDE

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For more information on the Cavalier Program, Contact:Mrs. Paige Donahoe at pdonahoe@mcaschool.net

or (330) 725-3227

THE CAVALIERPROGRAM WILLBE AVAILABLE

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*Access to MCA library & audio-visual materials*Access to MCA computer lab*ACSI student activities – Speech Meet, Math League, Writing,etc.*Opportunity for band, orchestra, worship for chapels*Yearly standardized testing*Certified teachers available for assistance*Complete record keeping (Graduation with Sevenstar diploma)*Opportunity for Art classes

THE CAVALIER PROGRAMBeginning this fall, Medina Christian Academy will be offering the

Cavalier Program, which is an online high school program. This pro-gram is an exciting alternative for students/parents who want a different

choice other than the traditional classroom. We are partnering withSevenstar Academy which is a leader in Christian online education fromCincinnati, OH. Students involved in this program can take advantage

of the resources we have available here at MCA such as:

QUESTIONSFrom A3

I f you or someoneyou know may be

considering suicide,these local andnational agenciescan help:

ALTERNATIVEPATHSPart of the MedinaCounty Coalition forSuicide PreventionCoalition, (330) 725-9195www.alternativepaths.org

NATIONALSUICIDEPREVENTIONLIFELINE(800) 273-TALK (8255)www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org

THE SUICIDEPREVENTIONEDUCATIONALLIANCEOF OHIOwww.speaneohio.org

THE OHIO SUICIDEPREVENTIONFOUNDATIONwww.ohiospf.org

I’M ALIVEAn online crisis networkoffering support and livechat at www.imalive.org

Quallich argued that the dis-trict’s policy on student sui-cide — stating that “Any suchsigns or the report of suchsigns from another student orstaff member should be takenwith the utmost seriousness”— adequately addresses thequestion of third-party calls.

“I would say that falls underthat policy,” she said.

Quallich said Mahoney’s callproperly was handled, addingthat Schwendeman was anexperienced counselor whoknew much more about thesituation than Mahoney.

Schwendeman has been aguidance counselor with thedistrict for seven years, first atH.G. Blake Elementary Schooland then at Claggett, andobtained her clinical coun-selor’s license in March.

“I trust Julia’s clinical judg-ment with the information shehad that we know but I can’trelease because it’s confiden-tial student information,”Quallich said.

Did the school district con-duct its own inquiry into howMahoney’s call was handled?

“Absolutely. We alwaysreview when something hap-pens to see if we can do some-thing better,” Quallich said.

But was there any formalevaluation that resulted in awritten report — recommen-dations, conclusion — any-thing in writing concerningthis case?

“No,” Quallich said.

Contact reporter Loren Gensonat (330) 721-4063or lgenson@medina-gazette.com.

Contact David Knox at (330) 721-4065or dknox@medina-gazette.com.

age 13, complicity to rape achild and a count of gross sex-ual imposition. All the chargesare first-degree felonies exceptimposition, which is third-degree. If convicted, he couldface life in prison.

Law is accused of molestingthe children — who now are 24and 27 years old — in the sum-mers of 1989, 1994, 1996 and1997, when they were between3 and 8 years old.

He also is accused of aiding

an unidentified person in rap-ing one of the children in 1997.

At the time, Law wasbetween 55 and 64 years old.

Law was arrested andcharged in March after a four-month joint investigation bythe Medina County Sheriff’sOffice and the FBI.

His 78-year-old sister, whoasked to remain anonymous toprotect her family, said shecouldn’t believe it when sheheard about the charges.

“It took me really hard,” shesaid. “It’s hard for me to believethere’s anything to this.”

She said “Bobbie” was a wid-ower and had children andgrandchildren, and that he’dalways been a family-orientedperson.

She and Law grew up with anabusive father “on the otherend of the tracks” during theDepression on Cleveland’swest side, she said.

When he was younger, Lawwould dig through the dumpfor Christmas presents and runpaper routes, she said. Whenhe grew up, he entered the U.S.Army and later succeeded inbusiness.

“I’ve always had a highrespect for Bobbie,” his sistersaid, “because he worked sohard to get to where he’s at.”

She said she didn’t think Lawwas capable of the violencehe’s charged with, but said any-thing is possible.

“There’s a yin and yang in allof us. There’s good and bad,”she said. “I’m not saying he didit or didn’t do it. I just don’tknow.”

Law is being held at thecounty jail on $1 million bond.

Contact reporter Nick Gluntat (330) 721-4048or nglunt@medina-gazette.com.

TRIALFrom A1

A6 Thursday, July 25, 2013 The Gazette

Obituaries

W a l t e r“Judge” Robb,Jr., 82, a life-

time resident of Hinck-ley, passed away peace-fully Saturday, July 20,2013. He was born Sep-tember 1, 1930, in Hinck-ley, to the late Walter A.and Eudora (Stine)Robb, Sr.

Walter proudly served inthe U.S. Army during theKorean War and retired asChief of Operations for theCleveland Metro Parks. Hewas the current HinckleyTownship Sexton, a volun-teer for the USO and a life-time member of the NatureConservancy. He loved spend-ing time outdoors, travelingthe country, fishing, and wasan avid reader, who was oftenseen at the Highland Library.

He is survived by his be-loved companion of 25 years,Paula Kramer; loving chil-dren, Jeffrey Robb of Hinck-ley, Susan Robb of Hinckley,Linda (Chuck) Olsavsky ofNewburgh, Indiana, Gary(Lisa) Robb of Hinckley andJohn (Donna) Robb of Hinck-ley; their mother, Lois Robb;

15 grandchildren; fourg reat-g randchildrenand brother, Richard(Cate) Robb of Frank-lin, North Carolina.

He was preceded indeath by his infantson, Steven and broth-ers, Ramon and Her-bert Robb.

Family and friends maycall Friday, July 26, 2013,from 10 A.M. until 2 P.M., atWaite & Son Funeral Home,3300 Center Rd., Brunswick,44212. A prayer service willbe held during calling hoursat 12:30 P.M.

In lieu of flowers, contri-butions may be made to OhioNature Conservancy, 6375Riverside Dr., Suite 100,Dublin, OH 43017, USO NEChapter, 20637 Emerald Park-way, Cleveland, OH 44135 orthe Cleveland Metro Parks,4101 Fulton Parkway, Cleve-land, OH 44144.

Online condolences may beleft atwww.waitefuneralhome.com

Walter “Judge” Robb, Jr.

ROBB

Joan C. Lawrence (neeRyba), 80, of Medina, passedaway peacefully on Tuesday,July 23, 2013. She was bornDecember 15, 1932, to the lateStanley, Sr. and Mary (neeBajorek) Ryba in Cleveland.

Joan was an active parish-ioner at St. Martin’s and alsoenjoyed polka dancing alongwith being a member andQueen of the Red Hats Society.

Joan is survived by herloving children, Kathleen(Mike) Chohaney and Nick(Maria) Lawrence; treasuredgrandchildren, Terra (Paul)Davis, Kate Chohaney, An-drea Lawrence and MichaelChohaney; loving compan-ion, John Yezerski; sister,Rosemary Gannon; daughter-in-law, Joan M. Lawrence andsister-in-law, Pat Ryba.

She is preceded in death byher beloved husband, Nicho-las Lawrence; second hus-band, Anthony Rajski; sonDavid; infant daughter,

Christine; brother, StanleyRyba, Jr. and her beloved dogcompanion, Scooter.

Family will receive friendstoday, July 25, 2013, from 4until 7 P.M., at Waite and SonFuneral Home, 3300 CenterRd., Brunswick, 44212. AMass of Christian Burial willbe held Friday, July 26, 2013,at 10 A.M., at St. MartinCatholic Church, 1800 StationRd., Valley City, 44280, withFather Thomas Dunphy asthe Celebrant. Please meet atthe church. Burial will followat St. Martin Cemetery inValley City.

Contributions may be made,in Joan’s memory, to Hospiceof Medina County, 5075 Wind-fall Rd., Medina, 44256, or acharity of your choosing.

Online condolences may beleft atwww.waitefuneralhome.com

Joan C. Lawrence

Kerry W. Clark, 63, ofMontville Township,passed away Tuesday,July 23, 2013, at MedinaHospital Cleveland Clin-ic Emergency Room. Hewas born in Charleston,West Virginia, to RLand Elizia Clark Decem-ber 1, 1949.

Kerry was owner of histrucking company. He re-ceived the Carnegie Metal in2000 for his heroic heroismefforts. He prided himselfwith rescuing stray andabused pets.

He will be missed by hisbeloved wife, Pamela (neeGrenat); sons, Jeremy, Josh-ua (Amanda); grandchildren,Kaitlyn, Kara; his father, RL;brothers, Daniel (Rachel) andRodney; sisters, Pamela

Kerry W. Clark

CLARK

(Mark) Moore, Beverly(Dave) Lowther; broth-er-in- law, Gordie Wise.

Kerry was precededin death by his mother,Elizia; brother, Robert;and sister, PatriciaWise; also his step-brother, Laura Jo.

Visitation for familyand friends will be heldFriday, July 26, 2013 from 5 to8 P.M., at Carlson FuneralHome, 3477 Medina Rd.,(corner of Rt. 18 and RiverStyx Rd.) Medina. Cremationwill follow.

Online memorials atwww.carlson

funeralhomes.com

T h o m a sGeorge Mach,65, of Lodi

passed away Monday,July 22, 2013, at AkronGeneral Medical Cen-ter. He was born inCleveland on October24, 1947, to Frank andRosemary SchmitzMach and had resided inLodi for the past 16 years.

Thomas was a 1965 grad-uate of Strongsville HighSchool and had worked as abricklayer for Local #5 inCleveland retiring in 2008. Hewas a U.S. Marine CorpVeteran.

He is survived by his chil-dren, Edward Thomas (Nicole)Mach, Sherrie Mach, Anne-Marie Mach, Bethany Mach,Jaclyn Mach; seven grandchil-dren, Anthony, Makenna, Bry-ton, Breanna, Colton, Camdenand Rex; siblings, Sister Ellen-

ann SND (Carol), Don-na Howski (Robert),Robert Mach (Linda),Janet Gottlieb (Donald),James Mach (Kathy),Gerald Mach (Jean),Karen Seibel (Chris)and Maureen Fortner(Jeff).

He was preceded indeath by his parents andbrother, Kenneth.

Funeral service will beMonday, July 29, 2013, 10:30A.M. at The Parker & SonFuneral Home, 210 MedinaSt., Lodi. Father Ron Brydawill officiate. Burial will beMonday at 12:30 P.M. at OhioWestern Reserve NationalCemetery in Rittman. Visita-tion will be Sunday, July 28,2013, 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 P.M. atthe funeral home.

Online tributes may beshared atwww.parkerfuneralhomes.com

Thomas George Mach

MACH

Judy B. Kiley, 74, ofSullivan, passed away Tues-day, July 23, 2013 at HospiceHouse of North Central Ohioin Ashland. On May 27, 1939in Long Island, New York,Mrs. Kiley was born to JackS. and Ruth (Banks) Booz.

She had been employed atthe Elyria Chronicle Tele-gram and provided HomeHealthcare for over 15 years.Mrs. Kiley was member ofthe Medina Pythian Sisters.Her greatest joy in life washer children, grandchildren,great-grandchild and helpingothers.

Mrs. Kiley is survived byher daughter, Kelley (Bruce)Jordan of North Carolina; twosons, John (Carolann) Kiley ofNew London and Craig (Mi-

Judy B. Kileychelle) Kiley of Ashland;grandchildren, David, IrynaSorrell of Kentucky, Cassidy,Colt, Alianna, Cooper Jordanof North Carolina, Tyler Jor-dan of New London, Taylor,Hailey, Caleb, Kyle and Kristi;great-grandchild, Braxton;brother, Jack (Danielle) Booz,Jr. of Maryland and sevennephews.

Mrs. Kiley was preceded indeath by her parents.

A memorial service will beheld 6 P.M., Friday, July 26,2013 at Heyl Funeral Home,227 Broad St., Ashland, withPastor Tim Holman offici-ating.

An online register book isavailable to express condo-lences to the family atwww.heylfuneralhome.com

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While the medication seemed to helpDeven focus in class, he still struggled toget the work done, his father said.

Baab met with Kris Quallich, director ofstudent services for the Medina district,and Chris LaVogue, the school’s psychol-ogist, early that year. He told them hethought Deven’s individualized educationplan wasn’t working, and that Devenscored low on the fifth-grade proficiencytests.

Baab said he asked that his son beallowed to repeat the fifth grade.

“I basically wanted him out,” Baab said.“I wanted him back in the elementaryschool. I didn’t think he could handle itacademically or emotionally.”

LaVogue and Quallich persuaded Baabto keep Deven at Claggett but with possi-ble revisions to the individualized educa-tion plan. They also recommended a psy-chological evaluation.

At about that time, Baab hired an advo-cate for Deven from the Learning Disabil-ity Association of Northeast Ohio, whohelped him review and change the plan.

Bullying issues

Baab said his son faced anotherchallenge when he started at

Claggett in the fall of 2010 — fallingbehind in his schoolwork madeDeven a target of abuse by otherstudents.

Deven would complain to him aboutstudents on the bus referring to his smallranch-style home as “a garbage can.”

“I was in the principal’s office more thefirst month of school or so than I was mywhole life when I was growing up,” Baabsaid.

In late September, Baab contactedDeven’s school bus driver, who agreed tolet Deven sit in the front of the bus.

On Oct. 22, 2010, Baab got an emailfrom Craig Komar, who was principal ofClaggett, saying a female student hadkicked Deven in the groin.

Baab and Deven met with Komar thefollowing Monday.

About a week after the meeting, Deventold his father students still were harass-ing him at school but he asked him not toreport it to the principal.

After that, Deven never mentioned anybullying.

“He would come home in a bad moodmany a time, but he wouldn’t tell meabout it,” Baab said. “He would say thathe doesn’t like school.”

Baab said he is concerned about thepervasiveness of social media and how itcan fuel bullying.

“It used to be, you get bullied at school,you went home, at least you could forgetabout it, and the next day, all is forgot-ten,” he said. “But now, pictures of it areon the Internet, or on Facebook.”

Baab said he thought Deven seemedhappier when he was “grounded” and

didn’t have access to his phone and com-puter.

“So many things that probably hap-pened to him that I had no idea,” Baabsaid.

Over the next two years, Baab said hisson continued to struggle to complete allhis schoolwork but didn’t complain aboutbeing bullied.

But Baab said he hoped the situationwas improving last fall when Devenstarted the eighth grade at Claggett.

Deven was completing all his work andhis grades had improved, even though hehad stopped taking Concerta. Baab saidhe decided to take Deven off the drugbecause of concerns his son was not gain-ing weight when taking the medication.

Signs of trouble

The first indication that some-thing was wrong came in early

October, when Baab went to hisson’s room to tell him it was timefor bed. He couldn’t find him.

In a panic, he called Deven’s phone. Noanswer. Finally Baab sent him a text mes-sage, saying he would call the police if hedidn’t answer. Deven replied with a mes-sage saying he ran away.

After finding out where Deven wasfrom a girlfriend, the father brought himhome.

Baab said he yelled at his son, saying itwas the first time Deven had seen him soupset.

Baab told his son he couldn’t stand thethought of losing him.

“Man, I didn’t realize that you cared,”the father remembered Deven saying.

“You’re all I have,” he responded.About that same time, Baab said he got

a call from the father of Deven’s girlfriend,who reported Deven had been tellingother students that his father was beatinghim.

He asked Deven why he did it, butdidn’t get a clear answer.

Because Deven was doing better inschool, Baab said he was surprised to geta phone call in mid-October fromClaggett’s counselor, Julia Schwendeman.

She told Baab that Deven had madesome superficial cuts on his wrists andwas showing them to other students atrecess.

“He had used an X-ACTO blade fromthe shop class,” Baab said.

Baab said he didn’t take any drasticaction and his son promised not to do itagain.

“I didn’t want to exacerbate it, makehim more depressed,” he said.

Baab investigated getting behavioralcounseling for his son. But he said he hadtrouble finding a counseling service thatwould accept both his and his ex-wife’shealth insurance, and the earliest avail-able appointment wasn’t until mid-December.

On Oct. 31, Schwendeman called to saythat Deven had continued to show self-inflicted cuts to other students and toldone of his teachers that he “wouldn’t be

around much longer.”Baab met with Schwendeman and the

teacher that afternoon.During the meeting, Baab said he told

Deven “that I loved him very much. I said,‘I don’t want you to feel this way.’ I said, ‘Ineed you to talk to me.’ ”

Schwendeman later told police investi-gating the child’s suicide that both sheand the teacher “were encouraged by theBaabs’ openness with each other,”according the police report.

Baab took Deven to Akron Children’sHospital immediately after the meeting.

‘Your son doesn’twant to hurt himself’

A t the hospital, Deven wasinterviewed and Babb recalled

that the doctor told him: “Mr.Baab, I’ve evaluated Deven, heseems just fine, and I wanted to letyou know that you can sleep easytonight. Your son doesn’t want tohurt himself.”

Deven told the doctor the cutting wasbecause of “stress and drama” and not asuicide attempt, according to hospitalrecords obtained by Medina police.

The boy said the main cause of hisstress was “people not liking me becauseI’m different.”

Hospital officials recommended a “par-tial hospitalization program,” where hewould have a tutor at the hospital andtherapy during the day, or outpatientcounseling.

At home that night, Baab begged hisson to open up to him. He asked Devenwhy he was doing these things.

“I’m sick of nobody liking me any-more,” Deven said.

Baab said he responded by displayingeven more affection to his son.

“I would just pour it on. I poured it onevery day,” he said. “After he would gethome from the bus, I would give him a bighug, tell him how proud I was, and I lovedhim very much.”

The next day, Schwendeman calledBaab to ask how the hospital visit went.Baab said he made it very clear to her thathe wanted to hear about any incidentsinvolving Deven and that he would takehim to the hospital if there was anotherone.

“I did explain to her, the very next timeDeven says or does anything, he’s going toAkron Children’s,” he said.

That’s why Baab said he was so angrythat no one from Claggett called him afterKimberly Mahoney, the mother of one ofDeven’s friends, called the school on theFriday before his death. Mahoney hadsaid that Deven had sent her son textmessages stating he was going to kill him-self.

“I would have taken him to Akron Chil-dren’s on Friday,” Baab said. “He wouldprobably still be alive.”

Contact reporter Kiera Manion-Fischerat (330) 721-4049 or kfischer@medina-gazette.com.

LOSTFrom A3

with an alternative acquisitionprocess pursuant to the Natu-ral Gas Act.”

Lafayette Township TrusteeLynda Bowers said that meansColumbia Gas plans to file aclaim to obtain the easementthrough eminent domain, thelegal process by which a pub-lic utility seizes private prop-erty for public or civic use.

Bowers said she’s worriedlandowners don’t know theirrights and that the gas com-pany was offering too littlemoney.

“The case for eminentdomain must be based onlandowner’s refusal to negoti-ate,” she said. “If you offerthem a ridiculously smallamount of money and a

ridiculously small amount oftime, odds are they’re going torefuse.”

One man on Crow Road wasoffered $371 for his roughly3.5 acres, she said.

Ellen Partridge, a spokes-woman for Columbia Gas, saidthe letters were sent as part ofa program “to update ourrecords and ensure we obtainthe land rights necessary tooperate and maintain naturalgas storage fields in thatregion.

“We look forward to work-ing with these landowners,”Partridge said, adding that“given that this is a legal trans-action, these landownersshould seek legal counsel andreach out to the Columbialand representative whosecontact information is pro-vided in the letter.”

Bowers agreed that propertyowners should seek the adviceof attorneys, noting that aclass-action lawsuit has beenfiled against Columbia Gascharging that property valueshave been damaged by gasstorage.

The suit, filed in U.S. Dis-trict Court, Southern District,Eastern Division, in Colum-bus, states that Columbia Gashas been using land for stor-age for decades without alease or eminent domainorder, a violation of individ-ual’s Fifth Amendment rights.

Among the plaintiffs arefour Medina companies andfive individual Medina Countylandowners: three in SpencerTownship and one each inYork and Litchfield townships.

Attorney John Keller, ofVorys Law Firm in Columbus,

represents the plaintiffs. Hesaid gas storage can makedrilling for gas or oil moreexpensive and less attractiveto oil companies, therebycompromising a landowner’sability to lease or access min-erals.

Columbia filed a counter-suit, contending that thelandowners refused to negoti-ate.

One of the Spencer Town-ship property owners in thesuit, William Ensign, of 11680Smith Road, declined to com-ment on the specifics of thesuit.

“It’s just really unfair that wehave to go through this,” hesaid. “Columbia is drawing usinto a battle we don’t want.”

Contact reporter Dan Pompiliat (330) 721-4012or dpompili@medina-gazette.com.

GASFrom A1

It’s fun to follow The Gazette on Facebook!

SAN FRANCISCO — Face-book’s stock is flying highafter the world’s biggestsocial network posted higherrevenue from mobile ads anddelivered a healthy second-quarter profit that reversed aloss in the same period a yearago.

The results, which come onthe heels of weaker-than-expected results from onlinesearch leader Google Inc.,signal that Facebook’s aggres-sive push into the mobileadvertising market continuesto pay off. The companybegan showing mobile adver-tisements for the first timelast spring. On Wednesday,Facebook said mobile adsaccounted for a whopping41 percent of its total adver-

tising revenue.The Menlo Park, Calif.-

based company’s stockjumped $4.48, or 17 percent,to $30.99 in extended trading.The shares had closed theregular trading session at$26.51. Facebook’s stockpriced at $38 when the com-pany went public in May2012, but hasn’t hit that rangesince.

“I’m completely surprised,”said Gartner analyst BrianBlau, summing up the senti-ments of many investorswho’ve watched Facebook’sstock price stagnate over thepast year due in large part toconcerns about its mobileprospects.

— from wire reports

Facebook stock soars on 2Q profit news