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Left isolated from her community and family, a sexual assault victim decided it would be best to let her assailant out of prison early and she asked Logan County Common Pleas Court Judge William T. Goslee to do so Thursday.
Former Liberty Township Fiscal Officer John C. “Chris” Foust, 68, is currently incarcerated at Madison Correctional Institution, but he soon will be brought back to Logan County for his release hearing.
Goslee said he is granting early release and will order Foust to a step-down term of no more than six months at West Central Community Correctional Facility.
“The overwhelming support for the defendant leaves (the victim) in a state of isolation from her community and her family,” the judge told 20 of Foust’s 50-some supporters in attendance at the Logan County Jail Complex. “She feels the prison term has done more damage to her and her family than good.
“Do not view this as a victory. Do not celebrate,” he said. Foust was sentenced to three years in prison after he pleaded guilty in March to a bill of information charging him with a third-degree felony charge of child endangering.
At the time, Goslee did not know the facts of the case when Foust entered a guilty plea to a bill of information a year ago. It was only after he read the presentencing investigation that the judge learned the underlying facts of the case.
“This clearly involves an instance of gross sexual imposition with a child under the age of 10,” Judge Goslee said on the record.
Logan County Prosecutor Eric Stewart and defense attorney Zachuary T. Meranda said the plea came after two months of negotiations and both urged the judge to move ahead with sentencing.
After the March sentencing, Stewart reiterated the case resolution came after months of work.
“There was a tremendous amount of pressure put on the victim’s family to drop the investigation,” he said. “The prosecutor’s office was unwilling to drop the case, but found a resolution that was agreed to by the victim’s family and the investigators at the sheriff’s office.
Read complete story in Friday’s Examiner.
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