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LISBON -- Daniel Smelser, who had hearings before both Common Pleas Court judges on Monday morning, was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Smelser, 39, West Main Street, New Waterford, was sentenced by Judge Megan Bickerton to 18 months in prison for failure to provide notice of a change of address. He then pleaded guilty to failure to register and was sentenced by Judge Scott Washam to 18 months in prison, which he will be allowed to serve at the same time as Bickerton's sentence.
While a small crowd waited in the hallway, four supporters spoke before Bickerton, followed by five supporters before Washam. They talked about Smelser not hiding the fact he is required to register as a sex offender and helping others, including some in the hallway while serving as a small group
leader with the organization Amsterdam Celebrate Recovery.
One of the co-founders of the religious-based group, John Finnegin, credited Smelser with sitting down at a table with a teenage boy and him and convincing him that the path he was going down was the wrong path, making the same mistakes Smelser had made.
Another co-founder, Donna Whitmore, said their organization believes in gently restoring people and they just want to see the best for Smelser.
His girlfriend, Lacrissa Gotchall, said they were both using drugs when he made these mistakes by not registering his address, but he has been clean for a year and three months. She said he will do whatever he has to do to register.
Others who spoke, James Brock and Jessica Matheson, also know Smelser through the program. Brock sees him from the perspective of someone who himself made mistakes years ago and was changed after figuring out what God wanted for his life, while Matheson said it was Smelser's influence which helped her during her lowest point in her life.
Smelser said he made a mistake 22 years earlier, when he was 18 years old by having consensual sex with a girlfriend, who was much younger than him. He relapsed on meth in December of 2018 and it was then that he failed to register as he lost a job and became homeless. He found a different job and was staying with someone there instead of driving back and forth when he did not register.
"I have a support group," Smelser said. "I love them so much ... I am not the monster this charge makes me out to be."
During separate hearings, Bickerton and Washam both commended Smelser for finding God and helping others. However, Bickerton said he has a lengthy criminal record, including a prior conviction for failing to register, and cannot continue making the same mistakes.
Smelser was credited with 254 days already served toward the 18-month sentences.