'A terrible betrayal of trust:' Judge denies motion to seal record of Greenfield pastor in 2010 theft, forgery case

Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss Wednesday denied a request to seal the record of former local pastor James Blaine, more than 13 years after Blaine was sentenced to prison for stealing from the church where he was employed.

Following a hearing Wednesday morning, the judge ruled against sealing the record of the case, writing in his subsequent order denying Blaine’s motion that “the circumstances and facts of this case were egregious and should not be sealed.

“The Court finds that that the interests of the Defendant in having the records sealed is outweighed by the legitimate needs of the state in maintaining them,” Coss wrote in the order dated Nov. 9. “First, the Defendant has not made restitution ordered by the Court. Therefore, the state has a legitimate interest as does the victim in having the record remain open until that is paid in full.

“Secondly, the Defendant has not shown any true remorse, has not accepted full responsibility for his crime, and committed the offense for personal gain. Thirdly, it is in the public’s best interest and the state’s interest that the records remain public so that any future employer could access the records as part of a background check.”

As reported by Brandy Chandler of The Highland County Press, “Blaine was sentenced to nearly five years in prison Oct. 1, 2010 — one month shy of the maximum — for stealing funds from the church. Blaine was also ordered to pay restitution to the church in the amount of $267,911.11.

“In August 2010, Blaine pleaded guilty to one count of forgery, a felony of the fifth degree, and aggravated theft, a felony of the third degree. The theft charge alleged that Blaine had stolen more than $100,000 from the Good Shepherd Church in Greenfield. The remaining charges on the 17-count indictment filed in May were dismissed.

“Blaine resigned from the Good Shepherd Church in September 2009.”

According to court records, judicial release was granted in December 2013, with Blaine serving “approximately 33 months of his sentence of 59 months,” the judgment entry said. Upon Blaine’s release from prison, he was sentenced by Coss to five years of community control.

After his release from prison, there were several hearings and filings regarding restitution, according to court records, with a filing in June 2015 determining that the balance was $89,277.03. When Blaine’s probation ended in 2018, the balance was $85,887.37.

With no filings in the case in close to five years, Blaine, represented by attorney Kathryn Hapner, filed a motion to seal the record of his conviction Sept. 22 of this year. The request cited “that it has been more than three years since he was finally released from probation or supervision” in the theft case; that he “has no other felony convictions;” that he “has paid all court costs and fines;” and that sealing the record “would allow him to seek employment and housing opportunities not now available to him” due to his felony conviction.

Coss ordered a pre-sentence investigation, while Collins filed a memorandum opposing Blaine’s request.

In her memorandum, Collins wrote that Blaine still “owes over $70,000 in restitution to the church,” while she argued that “nothing in the motion insinuates that [Blaine] has been” rehabilitated.

“This Defendant in particular did not recognize his wrongdoing,” Collins wrote. “Part of rehabilitation is acknowledging wrongdoing and taking responsiblity for that wrongdoing.  

“If this Court were to seal the Defendant’s record, the public could be in danger of this Defendant committing similar crimes. Additionally, the representatives of the Church have been contacted and are adamantly opposed to any such sealing of the record.”

The matter came before the court Wednesday morning, with Coss hearing arguments and evidence presented by Hapner and Collins.

Hapner said that Blaine had been “a model inmate,” and now a “model citizen,” in the years since his conviction. According to the defense attorney, Blaine helped other inmates during his time in prison and continues to do so with a prison ministry, as well as by serving as a pastor at another church. She argued that having this conviction on his record is making it “very difficult” to find and keep a place to live with landlords not wanting to rent to felons.

Hapner also said that before his conviction, Blaine “had six decades of being a good citizen” and has “almost a decade and a half of being a good citizen” since then. She told the judge that Blaine “has paid his court costs, he has completed everything except restitution” and that proceeds from the sale of property owned by Blaine went to the church.

Collins responded that “it’s not exactly accurate that he sold property and voluntarily brought a check in to pay restitution,” as she said the victims had filed a lien on the property through a civil case.

Regarding the over $70,000 in restitution still owed by Blaine, Collins said that Blaine said that he made a payment to the church “25 years in advance” as a supposed final payment. The prosecutor said that neither the Victim Witness nor “any person we dealt with at the church” agreed to any such arrangement, nor did it come before the court for approval.

“He just continues to not take responsibility for what he did,” Collins said. “He still owes $70,000 in restitution in this matter. He makes no attempt to pay anything on it, feeling he’s just paid enough.

“I don’t believe he is rehabilitated at all. I believe he still poses a threat if this is sealed, because he is not somebody that has true genuine remorse for what he’s done.”

Coss asked the attorneys to present evidence, with Hapner calling Blaine to testify. Blaine said that he lives in Chillicothe, but that the landlord no longer wants to rent to felons and have asked him to leave, which he has appealed.

He is now serving as a pastor at a church in Hocking County, he said, and has a “prison ministry at London [Correctional Institution] every two weeks.” Along with housing, Blaine said he has a hard time finding work “outside the church.

“Whenever I try to do stuff, there’s that problem,” Blaine said.

Regarding restitution, Blaine said it was “not correct” that he would not make any restitution payments in the future, but he said that he had made an arrangement with a former member of the church, who has since died. He claimed that the church “should have” documentation for this agreement.

“I wanted to sell this property, and of course they had the lien,” Blaine said. “I met with [the congregant] and discussed it with him and said look, I’m paying you $25 a month. I’ll sell this property and give you this money, this block sum, as prepayment. We sat down and figured it up. It was 25 years in advance.

“I said that 25 years from now, I may or may not be alive. If I’m alive, I will resume the payments. If I’m not, this is probably the final payment. He said ‘the church can use the money now. That’s quite all right.’ That’s the agreement we made.”

Blaine said that neither Victim Witness nor the church had “contacted me” about making any further payments. He testified that he is “not a threat.”

“It’s just continued punishment for me,” he said. “I feel like I’ve paid my debt to society.”

Under cross examination, Collins asked if Blaine had access to his current church’s funds. He said that he set up “a strict wall” to ensure he did not.

The prosecutor then questioned him repeatedly on the supposed agreement with the church regarding restitution. Blaine said he had a copy at one point but it was “in storage.” Collins pointed out that “a contract forgiving $70,000” should be something he held onto, while Blaine argued that it was “not forgiveness” but “an advance” payment for 25 years.

Collins then asked Blaine how much that payment was, and he said it was $7,500. (His arrangement was to pay $25 per month in restitution, so it equaled out to 25 years’ worth of payments.) The prosecutor asked about the judgment lien on the property, and Blaine said that he “could have waited [a year] and let the lien die and not given them anything.”

“Or they could have filed a new lien,” Collins said.

Collins then asked if Blaine understood that he was ordered to pay restitution upon his sentencing.

“Yes, of course,” Blaine said. “I paid it.”

“In full?” Collins asked.

“That’s a silly question,” Blaine said. “I did not pay it in full, but I did pay it in advance.”

He agreed that “of course I do” owe more restitution, but that he “made the 25 year in advance payment” in 2019 and has not made additional payments since then. Collins said that as Blaine mentioned not being contacted to make payments, “it’s no one’s responsibility to contact you and tell you, you owe restitution.” Blaine said that Collins was ignoring “the agreement of 25 years in advance, at which time the payments would resume.”

After the examination of Blaine, Good Shepherd Church Pastor Scott Graham was permitted to speak on behalf of the victims, as he asked the judge to deny Blaine’s motion. He was accompanied by other members of the church, who declined to speak.

Graham told the judge that over 13 years after Blaine’s conviction, “the remnants” of his crime “still linger.”

“Rarely does a week go by that I’m not dealing with this aspect of the church’s past,” Graham said.

The pastor said that the congregation — and “Greenfield as a whole” — continues to be affected by Blaine’s crime. Congregants still suffer emotional wounds that have led to some leaving the church, or “some have even left the faith,” he said.

“Real, serious pain has occurred,” Graham said.

He added that Blaine also inflicted suffering from a financial standpoint, giving the church “an enormous debt” from his theft, while the church has fewer members “to service that debt.

“Your Honor, we’ll be paying back Mr. Blaine’s failures for another 17 years,” Graham said. “His fraud has caused distrust in clergy, and in our church, and in our community.”

Graham said that he “questions the sincerity” of a court-ordered letter of apology from Blaine to the church and said he felt that if Blaine was genuinely repentant, he would continue to make restitution payments. The pastor also said that Blaine needs to make “restitution from the heart” by owning up to his crime and showing “an intense desire to make it right.

“Good Shepherd Church has not seen this sorrow for this sin, nor has it seen a sincere desire to make things right,” Graham said. “In fact, he has demonstrated a lack of rehabilitation by not paying his court-ordered restitution and has shown no intention to do so. We don’t believe that he’s been rehabilitated.”

He added that “even if no money were involved,” Blaine’s record should remain public in order “to protect potential victims,” including any churches or organizations with which Blaine is involved.

“No one, no group, should be exposed to the type of pain Good Shepherd has and continues to experience,” Graham said.

Hapner referenced Graham’s statements in her closing argument to the judge, saying that “forgiveness” is “part of our Christian faith,” and should be shown by the victims.

“Mr. Blaine has to make penance, but the victim has to forgive,” she said. “I’m not seeing that here. That troubles me.”

Hapner said that she didn’t think the church could make an argument that “a huge majority” of congregants leaving the church was due to Blaine because “people have left churches of all denominations for a wide variety of things,” including the pandemic.

She concluded that sealing Blaine’s record is “in the church’s best interest” as it may give Blaine the opportunity to pay additional restitution.

“There is still a civil judgment that hasn’t gone away and probably won’t,” Hapner said. “There is recourse for the church to still recover money. Mr. Blaine doesn’t have any money to give them. He may never. If his record is sealed and he can get other employment, he may.”

Collins responded that while “our Christian faith does dictate forgiveness, I think that it’s much easier to forgive a person when they acknowledge they’ve done wrong.” She said Blaine’s demeanor — “the smug, ‘I did nothing wrong attitude’” — is “exactly the same” as it was during his criminal proceeding and subsequent restitution hearings.

For the so-called “25 years in advance” agreement, Collins argued that the church only got the $7,500 due to the judgment entry against Blaine’s property and that she would “bet my next month’s paychecks” a written agreement “didn’t exist.”

She then briefly reviewed factors listed in the Ohio Revised Code for sealing or expunging cases, including: “the age of the offender; the facts and circumstances of the offense; the cessation or continuation of criminal behavior; the education and employment of the offender; and any other circumstances that may relate to the offender's rehabilitation.”

Collins argued that “age is not a factor” because Blaine, who is now 74, was also “an older gentleman” when the offense occurred. She said that Blaine’s failure to pay restitution “is a a continuation of criminal behavior.”

Even more important, she said, are “education and employment,” as Collins argued that Blaine was educated to the point that “it took a long time to catch” the crimes he was committing, while he is continuing employment “right back in the same position he was in when he was charged and convicted,” albeit at a different church.

“If this record is sealed, there will be no protections in place,” she said.

In her final argument, Hapner argued that Blaine has apologized, made payments to Good Shepherd Church, been open about his conviction with his new church and taken steps to avoid “handling any finances there.” She said Blaine is “not a threat to people” and that “he would like to pay” the church back but “simply does not have the resources because he cannot gain employment” due to his criminal case remaining public.

Before making his ruling, the judge also reviewed the factors for sealing records and also addressed a few statements brought up during the hearing and filings leading up to it. Coss said that Blaine claimed that he was “released from incarceration and probation because of his ideal behavior.” He acknowledged that there was “no bad behavior in prison,” but to say that Blaine was released for “ideal behavior” would be “a misrepresentation.

“I kept him on probation as long as I could, for five years, and if I had the power to continue it, he’d still be on community control because restitution has not been made,” Coss said. “That’s concerning.”

The judge referenced a judgment entry he wrote in August 2013, where Coss said that Blaine “has not shown any remorse for his criminal acts and has continuously tried to portray himself as a martyr who plead[ed] guilty only to stop the harm to the cause of the church.”

Ten years later, Coss said, “I still continue to see denial … That’s a problem.”

In addition, Coss said this is “not a religious decision by any means,” but he referenced the religious debate brought up by the attorneys.

“In order to be forgiven for my sins, I have to request forgiveness, and I have to admit those sins,” Coss said. “In terms of chastising the church for not forgiving, I don’t see that there’s been any sincere request and acknowledgement and certainly not been any atonement.”

Coss added that he hasn’t “seen the behavior that convinces me that [Blaine] has any remorse for anyone or anything other than himself.”

The judge said that his “general belief” is not to seal the records of a defendant still owing restitution to his victims, while he said that the supposed restitution agreement with the church “would still require court approval, which had not been sought.”

Coss concluded by saying that outside of family members, often “people put their trust in pastors more than any other person. Unfortunately, that’s often misplaced.

“In this case, there was a terrible betrayal of trust,” Coss said. “Being a pastor doesn’t mean you’re a good Christian. I know a lot of pastors that aren’t. I’ve had more than one clergy sit right where you are. There have been more than one sent to prison.

“Unfortunately, that relationship is one that many people exploit. You didn’t show any desire to ever change course, and that's one of the reasons I prohibited you from being a pastor in a church for as long as I could."