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MOUNT GILEAD,Ohio — Morrow County commissioner Rodney Clinger, accused of downloading pornography on a county-owned computer, resigned Thursday as part of a negotiated plea.
Clinger, 56, of Edison, faced two fifth-degree felony charges, including unauthorized use of a computer or telecommunication property and theft in office. In a plea deal, Clinger pleaded no contest to a first-degree misdemeanor charge of unauthorized use of a computer.
As part of the negotiations, he agreed to step down as commissioner and pay a $1,000 fine. Richland County Judge James Henson, assigned to hear the case in Morrow County Common Pleas Court, suspended a 180-day jail sentence and sentenced Clinger to a year’s unsupervised probation. However, the judge ruled Clinger can request early release after six months.
“These last few months have been painful to so many, and I am not going to continue that pain — it’s not worth the fight for anyone,” Clinger said in a written statement handed to media. “I have said from the beginning that I was innocent. I will always maintain my innocence.”
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation uncovered evidence leading to the indictment while investigating an unrelated case involving the Morrow County Firefighters and Squadsmen Association.
Clinger made no statement in court Thursday and answered no questions from the media, other than distributing the statement.
He recently admitted he had downloaded pornographic files on the county computer when asked by Dan Osborne, chairman of the Morrow County Republican Party Central and Executive committees. Clinger said he paid for the downloads with his credit card but said there were “mitigating circumstances,” which he did not explain, following his attorney’s advice.
Clinger had said he clicked on sites that were already present on the computer, but declined to elaborate on paying for downloads.
The Republican central committee informed him in a June 26 letter that it voted unanimously June 23 to seek Clinger’s immediate resignation. He said Aug. 2 he had no plans to resign. That officially changed Thursday.
“This is a job that I loved and for which I was very proud to have been elected, and to serve our great community,” his statement said. “My decision to resign was painfully difficult. With my love for my family and their unselfish support, and because of how fellow commissioners, associates, friends and neighbors stood by me, I have decided it’s in everyone’s best interest that I resign.”