LAKEWOOD, Ohio — A social studies teacher at St. Edward High School in Lakewood was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty last month to a charge of attempted, unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.
According to court records, Patrick DeChant, 33, changed his plea to guilty after having previously pleaded not guilty to the charge, which is a fourth-degree felony. He will be placed on community control for three years and was ordered to register has a Tier-II sex offender, according to the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office and court records.
DeChant was also ordered to undergo drug and alcohol counseling, pay a $1,500 fine and is not allowed to have social media or internet access on his phone, the prosecutor's office stated. If any of the terms of his community control are violated, he faces up to 18 months in prison.
Dechant was indicted in October 2019 after authorities said that he had an online conversation with an agent from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force who he believed was a male teenager that had agreed to engage in sexual conduct with him.
After learning of DeChant's arrest, the school district suspended him from teaching. He was later fired.
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