Jeni Dinkel's son sues Covington Catholic

This from the Enquirer:

Alex Dinkel claims school

didn't protect him from harassment

The son of former Hollywood makeup artist Jeni Lee Dinkel has sued Covington Catholic High School for failing to protect him from harassment caused by his mother sleeping with a 15-year-old classmate.

The suit filed Monday in Kenton Circuit Court also claims the school violated Alex Dinkel’s civil rights by not accommodating his special needs as a cancer survivor. He was diagnosed with a rare pediatric cancer, called Ewing’s Sarcoma skull-based tumor, a month before his mother was charged with raping his classmate.“They failed Alex based on their disapproval of his mother’s actions,” said Alex Dinkel’s attorney, Scott Ryan Nazzarine, a partner with first-amendment lawyer H. Louis Sirkin, nationally known for representing such clients as Hustler publisher Larry Flynt. “They can’t abdicate their responsibility based on their opinion of his mother.”

The suit claims that Covington Catholic tried to get Alex to transfer to another school by not making it easy for him to keep up with school work while receiving cancer treatments, banning his mother from graduation and refusing to accept a scholarship endowment in his name.

• KSN&C Backstory:
• Photos: Jeni Lee Dinkel sentencing
• Photos from Dinkel case

Uneven Justice

This from WLEX 18:

Ex-Teacher Gets 30 Years In Student Sex Case

A former Robertson County teacher who plead guilty to charges involving sexual contact with a student is sentenced to 30 years behind bars.

Crystal Wells, 33, was suspended from her job as a math teacher at Deming High School when she was indicted for having a relationship with a male student. She later resigned.

Wells eventually took a plea deal to reduce her charges from rape to unlawful transaction with a minor. (Backstory)

Plea deal?

What she really needed was a change of venue. Here's what you get for rape in Kenton County.

Judge Scolds Rapist Dinkel, then Goes Easy

This from the Enquirer:

COVINGTON - The revelation that child rapist Jeni Lee Dinkel told probation officials that she felt like the one "raped, threatened and blackmailed into having sex" with the 15-year-old she molested drew the ire of a judge Friday.

"This statement ... that she was a victim in the case is outrageous," Kenton Circuit Judge Gregory Bartlett said during Dinkel's probation revocation hearing. "It is outrageous and unacceptable and will not be tolerated."
Dinkel, 52, told probation officials she didn't feel that she "raped anyone," according to their transcripts.

It was this and similar statements, in addition to her refusal to take a polygraph as required in her sex-offender treatment program, that led officials to ask Bartlett to revoke her probation.

The wife of former Bengals linebacker Tom Dinkel pleaded guilty in May to one count of third-degree rape for having sex with the 15-year-old friend of her son. She was ordered to 60 days in jail, given probation for five years and ordered to register as a sex offender for 20 years.

Bartlett found that Dinkel violated her probation by not complying with the requirements of sex-offender treatment programs. But the judge didn't follow Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders' recommendation of sending Dinkel to prison.

Acknowledging she had followed the other terms of her probation, including paying for her victim's therapy, Bartlett tacked on another 40 hours to the 200 hours of community service she must serve.

Bartlett said if he hears even a whisper that Dinkel continued to blame the victim he would not hesitate to send her to prison.

Department of Corrections official Debbie Hoyt took the stand during the hearing and testified that she recalled Dinkel saying she deserved "to be punished for giving the kids alcohol but nothing else."

During Dinkel's August sentencing, the victim's mother told Bartlett that Dinkel's Villa Hills home was a "sexual smorgasbord for a very hungry, sick woman" who plied her son with alcohol before raping him. She said Dinkel manipulated her son by telling him she might be pregnant with his child.

The mother has filed a lawsuit in Kenton Circuit Court that accuses several people
and agencies with failing to take proper actions to stop the abuse.

Sanders told Bartlett that Dinkel is "preoccupied with this civil case and not with
complying with her probation."Dinkel's attorney, Robert Lotz, said his client tried to turn the probation-revocation hearing into a condemnation of the state-run sex offender treatment program Dinkel must attend.

Lotz called Dinkel's personal therapist to the stand to question why the state-run program required Dinkel to attend group therapy with male rapists. Dr. Peter Ganshirt said to be with male sex offenders, in his clinical opinion, was the equivalent
of attending chemical dependency meetings at a bar.

Backstory from the Enquirer

Dinkel in court on probation violations

This from the Enquirer:

KENTON CO. -- A Villa Hills woman accused of violating the terms of her probation appeared in Kenton Circuit Court Friday. (Backstory)

Jeni Lee Dinkel was kicked out of a court-ordered sex offender treatment program for violations that include refusing to take a polygraph test, according to prosecutors.

She has appealed that decision, and results are expected next week.

At Friday's hearing, Kenton Circuit Judge Gregory Bartlett denied a motion by Dinkel's lawyer Robert Lotz for access to Dinkel's file kept by the Kentucky Division of Probation and Parole. Bartlett said those documents would be made available before the hearing on Dinkel's probation revocation, set for 9:30 a.m. Friday.

Dinkel's probation officer and the director of the sex offender treatment program have been subpoenaed to testify.

In May, Dinkel pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree rape for having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy. Last fall, she served 60 days of a five-year jail sentence.

Dinkel tossed from sex offender program

I figured this story was pretty much over - but No - Jeni Lee Dinkel was kicked out of her court ordered sex offender program on Valentines Day because she failed to accept responsibility for her crime and refused to take a polygraph. If she doesn't get that a cougar trolling her son's friend was illegal and wrong, then its hard to have any sympathy for her.

But, she was apparently struggling as the only woman among a dozen-ish men in group therapy. Imagine that for a second, and ask yourself: Is it therapeutically efficacious to combine a male and female sex offenders in the same program? ...in the same room. ...with male offenders reflecting on their prior crimes. ...talking about their exploitation. ...their feelings about women. ...with Dinkel in the circle? ...12:1.

I'm not sure how that is appropriate therapy for her.

This from the Cincinnati Enquirer: (Backstory from Enquirer Special Section)

Dinkel out of jail on bond
Charged with violating probation terms

VILLA HILLS - Registered sex offender Jeni Lee Dinkel posted bond Tuesday after spending a night in jail on charges she violated probation.

Kenton Circuit Judge Gregory Bartlett allowed the 52-year-old mother to post 10 percent of a $5,000 bond.

Dinkel pleaded guilty in May to one count of third-degree rape for having sex with a 15-year-old friend of her son. She was ordered to serve 60 days in jail, be placed on probation for five years and register as a sex offender for 20 years....

..."Short of absconding or committing a new offense, failure to complete sex offender treatment is one of the next most important conditions of probation," Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders said.

He said Dinkel could be placed back on probation or ordered to serve up to five years in jail if found in violation of her probation. A hearing is Monday...

...Dinkel's husband, former Bengals linebacker Tom Dinkel, said he had been
concerned about the part of the probation that required his wife to participate
in the Kentucky Sex Offender Treatment Program.

He said the treatment consisted of group therapy with his wife
being the only female in the class. He said the 10 to 15 other class members
were men who had sexually exploited women...

Dinkel released from jail

Jeni Lee Dinkel was released from the Kenton County jail late Saturday after serving time for having sex with a teenage boy in her Villa Hills home last year.

Dinkel, 51, entered the jail Oct. 4 to serve time for third-degree rape.

* Special Section: The case of Jeni Lee Dinkel

Dinkel pleaded guilty in May to one count of third-degree rape for having sex with a 15-year-old friend of her son. In August, she was sentenced to serve 60 days of a five-year sentence. Her jail time was delayed while her 16-year-old son received treatment for cancer. She was also sentenced to five years’ probation and must register as a sex offender for 20 years...

This from the Cincinnati Enquirer, Enquirer file photo.

Jeni Lee Dinkel case draws suit from victim's mother

In June, Jeni Lee Dinkel admitted to having sex with her son's then 15-year-old classmate.

The judge could have sent Dinkel to jail for five years. Instead he sentenced her to five years probation and ordered her to jail for 60 days after her son's radiation treatment for cancer.

The sentencing climaxed a controversial case that raised questions about proper punishment for the mother of a boy with cancer who raped one of her son's friends. Dinkel is the wife of the popular ex-Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Tom Dinkel.

This special section from the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Victim's mom sues Jeni Lee Dinkel

Says others named in suit

could have stopped abuse

People and agencies who knew that Jeni Lee Dinkel repeatedly had sexual relations last year with a 15-year-old classmate of her son's failed to take proper action to stop the abuse, alleges a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Kenton Circuit Court.

"Had these people that were in a position to stop the abuse done the proper thing, the statutorily required thing, these actions that hurt the child, at least in part, would have been stopped," said Newport lawyer Rene Heinrich.

The suit filed by the victim's mother on behalf of her minor child seeks unspecified damages from Dinkel, who is serving a 60-day sentence in the Kenton County Detention Center for raping the victim; Dinkel's husband, retired Bengals linebacker Tom Dinkel; Covington Catholic High School Principal Michael Clines; the Covington Diocese, and Park Hills Police Chief Rick Smith.

The defendants are accused of "willful, wanton, reckless and grossly negligent conduct" resulting in "permanent mental and emotional injuries that the victim will continue to suffer," the suit says....

The suit alleges that Tom Dinkel knew or should have known that his wife was "providing alcohol to minors and engaging in sexual conduct."

School responds to rape case
The Covington Diocese
says it 'complied fully'

COVINGTON - The Covington Diocese has responded to a lawsuit filed by a Northern Kentucky mother whose teenage son was raped by a classmate's mother.

The diocese believes it and Covington Catholic High School "complied fully" with their legal obligations to report the suspected abuse that took place off school grounds, diocesan spokesman Tim Fitzgerald said...

..."The principal of Covington Catholic High School, Michael Clines, reported this matter to the Kenton County Department for Community Based Services on Oct. 19, 2006, shortly after he learned of it from a parent in the school. When the Kenton County Department of Community Based Services informed him a week and a half later that they would not investigate the matter because the student was a resident in Campbell County, Mr. Clines reported the matter that same day to the Campbell County Department for Community Based Services.

"After several follow-up calls to both the Kenton County and the Campbell County Departments for Community Based Services, Mr. Clines called the Kenton County police and the Park Hills police to make a further report.

The authorities were provided with all the information available to Mr. Clines and the Diocese at that time, and we believe that the Diocese and the Covington Catholic High School cooperated fully in this investigation."

Dinkel gets 60 days

Judge's rape case

ruling strikes a compromise

The tearful mother of a 15-year-old boy raped by 51-year-old Jeni Lee Dinkel asked the judge to send the "sick woman" to jail.

Dinkel's own 15-year-old cancer-ridden son asked the judge to keep his "great mom" free so she could care for him.

Kenton Circuit Judge Greg Bartlett said it was an unusual case and struck a compromise.

Bartlett, who could have sent Dinkel to jail for five years, on Tuesday sentenced her to five years probation and ordered her to jail for 60 days later this year after her son's radiation treatment.

The sentencing climaxed a controversial case that raised questions about proper punishment for the mother of a boy with cancer who raped one of her son's friends.

Bartlett previously rejected a plea deal that would have spared Dinkel, who pleaded guilty to third-degree rape, jail time.

"It is difficult to sentence a woman who has children," said Bartlett. "This case is out of the ordinary. A serious crime has been committed against a child."

The judge ordered Dinkel to complete 60 days in jail by the end of this year and, saying he understood her son's radiation treatment was to be finished by the end of September, suggested she report to jail Oct. 5.

Bartlett also ordered Dinkel to register as a sex offender for the next 20 years, receive psychological counseling, substance abuse treatment, pay a $2,500 fine, volunteer 200 hours of community service working with under-privileged women and earn no profit from books or movies about the case.

Dinkel, a Hollywood makeup artist who lives in Villa Hills, left the courtroom in tears with her husband, former Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Tom Dinkel.

Before the judge sentenced Dinkel, he heard emotional testimony from both sides in the case.

Joshua Crabtree, an attorney for the Children's Law Center, spoke as a representative of the victim, who was 15 years old at the time of the crime last year and is now 16 and a rising junior at Covington Catholic High School.

The victim, said Crabtree, wanted it made clear that it was Dinkel who pursued him, not the other way around.

"Even when she knew this relationship was inappropriate, it was Mrs. Dinkel who would continue to contact him via text messaging and calling his cell phone while in school and at baseball or other kinds of practices to try to set up opportunities for them to be together," said Crabtree.

"It was Mrs. Dinkel that would pick him up at school and have him lay down in the back of the car as she drove him to her house and she would drop him off at the corner convenience store when she took him home so nobody would know where he was coming from.

"Most traumatic for him was at one point he was told by Mrs. Dinkel that she could be pregnant."

As for Dinkel's sentence, Crabtree said the boy was concerned that it might be different "from what would normally happen when someone pleads guilty to rape," a reference to the earlier plea deal in which Dinkel would avoid jail.

Tom Dinkel testified that his wife realized what she did was "wrong, inappropriate and bad judgment," but added, "she is also a very caring and loving mother."

He urged the judge not to send his wife to jail so she could continue to care for their 15-year-old son, Alex, as he receives treatment for cancer.

Tom Dinkel read the judge a letter from the couple's son, which began, "Dear Judge Bartlett, you don't know me, but I'm Alex Dinkel, Jeni Dinkel's son.

"I need your help and understanding because I cannot tell you how much I need my mom during this hard time I am facing. I need her more now than anything else in the world.

"I don't think I can beat this cancer without her. The truth is, I'm scared of dying. I need her to keep pushing me and not letting me ever give up. She makes me believe I can beat this cancer.

"I have prayed every night for her to stay with me and not leave me alone. I hope you and God have heard my prayers."

Villa Hills police began investigating Dinkel after they were called to her home in October on a report that alcohol was being supplied to minors at a loud party
~

Dinkel must register as a sex offender, receive counseling, substance abuse treatment, pay a $2,500 fine, and do 200 hours of community service.

~

This from the Cincinnati Post. Photo by BRUCE CRIPPEN/The Post.

Psych says Dinkel unlikely to rape again. Wants "home incarceration"

COVINGTON - A judge weighing whether to lock up child rapist Jeni Lee Dinkel has been given a court-ordered report that concludes the mother of two isn't likely to sexually exploit additional boys.

The report is sealed, but details of its findings were released by Dinkel's attorneys in a last-minute plea for mercy from the court.

Kenton Circuit Judge Gregory Bartlett will announce Tuesday whether he will follow the prosecutor's recommendation of probation or send the 51-year-old Hollywood makeup artist to prison for up to five years.

• Read attorney's request for home incarceration and Dinkel's hand-written apology

• Daugherty column: Dinkels' lives no longer boring

• Comment on the Dinkel case

• Special section: Dinkel coverage

Dinkel's co-counsel, Robert Lotz, proposed a compromise. If Bartlett isn't comfortable with just probation, "home incarceration with electronic monitoring is sufficiently punitive," Lotz writes.
Home incarceration would mean Dinkel could continue to take care of her 16-year-old son, Alex, who receives chemotherapy every two weeks to treat cancer.

"The medical report previously submitted emphasizes the crucial need of Alex for emotional support from his mother while he battles his disease and the effect of his treatment," Lotz wrote in a court filing. He stated Alex would lose his health insurance if his father, former Bengal Tom Dinkel, were forced to quit his job to take care of his son.

In defending his position that Dinkel isn't likely to re-offend, the court-appointed evaluator said none of the 97 women Kentucky convicted of a sex crime between 1995 and 2000 has re-offended.

The lawyer for victim, who was 15 when raped, said she trusts Bartlett to make the right decision.

"We are going to leave this decision up to Judge Bartlett," Rene Heinrich said. "We certainly wish Alex the best."

This from the Cincinnati Enquirer.

And.....

Pikeville police say woman pimped teen to pay bills

PIKEVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- An eastern Kentucky man and woman have been charged in the rape of a 15-year-old who was allegedly sold for sexual favors, police said.

The woman, Angela Michelle Kendrick, 33, allegedly used the money to pay her bills, police said.
Kendrick, of Pikeville, pleaded not guilty Friday to a felony charge of complicity to commit third-degree rape. She was arrested by Pike County Sheriff's deputies along with William Bennett Justice, of Raccoon, who was charged with third-degree rape. Justice also pleaded not guilty.

A police citation said Kendrick was letting Justice, 36, pay her bills in exchange for access to the teen.

Roger Varney, an assistant county attorney, said Justice raped the teenager more than 20 times.

Kendrick's attorney, Darrell Sammons, said: "The picture that is painted by the charges is not what we believe the facts of this case will bear out."

Both Kendrick and Justice were released on bond Friday afternoon.

This from WAVE TV.

Judge rejects Dinkel plea deal

Options: Be tried or be sentenced

The Villa Hills woman who thought she had a deal to resolve charges that she had sex with schoolmate of her son's at Covington Catholic High will now have to decide whether to go to trial or let a judge decide her fate.

That's the choice left Jeni Lee Dinkel after Kenton Circuit Judge Greg Bartlett refused Monday to approve her plea agreement, which would have spared her prison time.

Bartlett said he had too many questions about the agreement to ratify it.

He gave Dinkel - a Hollywood makeup artist and wife of former Bengal Tom Dinkel - two weeks to decide whether she wanted to withdraw the guilty plea and go to trial, or allow Bartlett to impose his own sentence on her.

...If her guilty plea stands, Dinkel could be sentenced to one to five years in prison.

"We're obviously disappointed in the judge's decision not to approve the plea deal," Travis said. "We're going to sit down and evaluate what we will do next."

Sanders said the next move is entirely Dinkel's call.

...Bartlett told the two sides at Monday's hearing that the court had not been included enough as the plea deal was being developed.

He complained that a sex offender assessment of Dinkel was done privately at her own expense and not by experts first approved by the court.

Bartlett also said differing accounts of who actually initiated the sexual contact - Dinkel or the boy - left too many unanswered questions to warrant approving the deal.

This from the Cincinnati Post. Photo by PATRICK REDDY/THE ENQUIRER: With her case unresolved, Jeni Lee Dinkel leaves court with her lawyer, Burr Travis.