Montgomery County Prosecutor – Mat Heck

Phather Phil’s Prayer

Heavenly Father, everyone has a computer now, even 5 yr. olds. Some of us are 3 generations behind the 5 yr. olds and are happy justto know where the delete key is. You see, we know that Adam and Eve were the first people that didn’t read the apples terms and conditions. Mistakes are our best learning tool and at the same time our most embarrassing moments. When we make a faux pas, Optimism tells us to press on to greater achievements in the future. We don’t need a computer to do that. Amen!

Today’s Guests – WELCOME!

Guest Guest Of
Darrel Basford Myron Rheaume
Amy Bromberg Mike Bevis
Brian Chastain Joe Cantrell
Marie Glaser John Horner
Mat Heck Speaker
Stephanie McKenzie Christy Gariety
Pam Tipps Mike Bevis
Andrea White Jim Long

All Photos from the Meeting are Here

Special Announcement

Two students from CHS, Nikhil Desai and Jacob Myers, attended today’s meeting on behalf of Centerville High School Spirit Chain.

Money raised during this year’s Spirit Chain activities will benefit BOGG Ministries, Shoes 4 the Shoeless and Cooperative for Education. Spirit Chain is a friendly, annual competition between CHS and Fairmont High School to raise money for charity.

Our members today donated $905 and the club agreed to match it for a total for $1810.

Congratulations Liz Fultz!

Liz Fultz has been appointed as director of the Washington-Centerville Public Library. Liz has been an awesome member of CNO since November 2015. She just completed 2 years as a CNO board member. Congratulations Liz! The library and our community are lucky to have you take over as director.

Upcoming Community Events

10/15/2019 and 10/16/2019 – Haunted Trail at Forest Field Park.

Info for Volunteers for Haunted Trail

Gail Aiken said to please show up early and that she still needs more volunteers.

Social Events

  • 11/8/2019 – 6 PM, Friday, Euchre party at TBD
  • 12/10/2019 – 6 PM, Tuesday, Holiday Party at Yankee Trace

Committee Meetings

  • 10/10/2019 – 6 PM, The next committee meeting for Child Health and Wellness will be at Panera in Centerville. Nancy Lehren is the chair. All are welcome to come and/or join the committee. Meetings are generally held the second Thursday of each month.

Committee Announcements

Myron Rheaume announced the next Great Ohio District quarterly meeting is November 2, 2019 in Dublin, OH. The keynote speaker will be Ickey Woods.

Mat Heck, Montgomery County Prosecuting Attorney

Gary Aiken introduced Montgomery County Prosecuting Attorney Mathias H. Heck Jr. He has held this elected position  since 1992. He graduated from Chaminade High School in 1965. He was a law clerk for the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office from 1966-1972. He graduated from Georgetown University Law Center, Washington D.C. in 1972. Between 1972 and 1992 he served as Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for Montgomery County.

He told us that if the prosecutor’s office was a law firm, it would be the largest law firm in Montgomery County. They have 70 lawyers and 70 support staff.

They process 5000 felony cases per year. They do not handle misdemeanor cases as they are handled at the municipal cities and townships. They also handle thousands of juvenile related felonies.

Mat explained that their job is to use evidence to determine if a case should be prosecuted. His team abides by the policy of you are innocent until proven guilty. If they don’t think a suspect can be proven guilty then they don’t bring the case.

As a prosecutor, he has a specific purpose and follows a code of ethics. They are seeking the truth. They don’t charge people until there is enough evidence. This can take a long period of time. Once they have gathered the evidence and there is enough to charge someone with a crime, they let the public know who is charged and why. If they charge someone, they truly believe they are guilty and will be found guilty. Once charged the person must either plead guilty or there be a trial.

They have a diversion program to help those who may never cause a problem again. For offenders of non-violent crimes that also have no prior convictions they will check with the victim. If the victim agrees to the diversion and the offender makes full restitution, then they are potentially eligible for the diversion program and won’t be prosecuted. The offender will do community service. They also must stay out of trouble for the next three years. If they don’t satisfy any of these requirements, they will be prosecuted for the crime.

If a person is 14 years or older then the prosecutor’s office can choose to try them as an adult. They consider many things when determining if a juvenile will be tried as an adult. Currently a juvenile is being tried as an adult for the “Alter Fest” homicide in 2016.  On August 31, 2019 a juvenile Dunbar high school football player head-butted a game official causing a concussion and they want him tried as an adult.

In recent years there have been many more offenses committed by juveniles. More kids now have no respect for parents, schools, or authorities. Juveniles need to be held responsible for their actions.

Because of the “Alter Fest” homicide the office was inspired to start some programs to prevent crimes by juveniles.

They have started going to the homes of children who are absent from school. Often grade schoolers answer the door. The reason they give for not being in school is that they must stay home to watch their younger siblings. They don’t want to jail the parents. They want to solve the problem. Every day kids are removed from homes because of neglect. Some 16 year olds are having their second or third child.

The prosecutor’s office wants to help so they are offering free services. They are teaching parents how to be parents. They offer transportation to and from school. They want the kids in school. We need kids to get an education. It is when the juveniles are not in school and not busy that they get into trouble.

Part of the prosecutor office job is to provide victim advocates. Services are offered during and after the case is complete. His advocates were down at the Oregon District very soon after the shooting. They are still helping victim’s families deal with the situation.

They handle cases where the county is being sued or needs to sue and they have an appellate division that handles appeals.

Mat is one of the founders of Care House. It is a local child advocacy group located next to Children’s hospital. They help protect the kids and prevent future abuse.

Mat said the job can be difficult for him and his team. He tells his lawyers that there is life after law. He tries to get them involved in the community so they can see some good.

Mat said he and his team are here to help.

Thank you, Mat, for speaking to us today.

Phone Numbers and Contacts at the Prosecutors Office

  • Main number is 937-225-5757
  • Elder Abuse Unit is 937-225-5603 (to report elder abuse or neglect)
  • Consumer Fraud Unit is 937-225-4747 (to report fraud, such as contractors that don’t complete paid for projects, etc.)
  • Victim/Witness Division is 937-225-5623 (for victims of rape, this is a 24-hour crisis line. They also provide services for victims of crime, especially violent crimes)
  • Child Abuse Bureau is 937-641-4545 (to report child abuse or neglect. You can also call 937-225-KIDS to report suspected abuse or neglect)

General email address for all inquiries is [email protected]

CNO Donations 2013 through June 2019

Click this link to see a summary of the donations our club has made.

Over 50 years, we have donated close to $2,000,000 to our youth community. In the past 6 years, we have donated nearly $700,000.

Birthdays

Member Birthday
Christy Gariety October 09
Laurie Westheimer October 9
Paula Kalaman October 09
Dav Bremer October 11
Steve Campbell October 11
Donna Robinson October 14
Sue Jessee October 14

Membership Anniversaries

Member Month Day Joined # Years
Deb Saunders October 8 10/8/2016 3
Jesse Gaither October 8 10/8/2016 3
Jim Mogan October 8 10/8/2016 3
Rachel Selby October 8 10/8/2016 3
Becky Keegan October 12 10/12/2018 1

New Member Readings and Inductions

Name Sponsor 1st 2nd 3rd Reading or Induction
Will Pace Evelyn Griffin  Induction
Louise Haun Mike Bevis Second Reading
Andy Higgins Mike Brubaker Second Reading

Sergeants at Arms

Member Infraction
Jay McAlpine In Dayton Daily News photo about the Greek Festival he was incognito with his hat shading his face and for not bringing us sample sweets from the Greek Festival
Chris McAlpline Not in family photo in the Dayton Daily News about the Greek Festival
Charlie Tapp Calling Sgt Donna “old” and trying to cover it up by calling Sgt Brandon “young”
Jean Pummill In absentia fined while on vacation and missing first two meetings of the new optimist year; The Sgts consulted with Judge Long for the vocabulary and to make sure it was okie dokie
Liz Fultz Being an “Overachiever” for becoming the Library’s new Director
Liz Fultz Maintaining a youthful look after a 25 year career at the library and only looking 24
Joe Kronenberger Fined for never doing anything to be fined for
Myron Rheaume Mispronounced Roland Rapp’s first name (correct pronunciation is “RAWLand”)

 Happy Bucks! 

Member Reason
Charlie Tapp Celebrating 50th wedding anniversary with Wanda
Don Kelley Celebrating 36th wedding anniversary with Sandy
Don Kelley Great round of golf, he finally scored his age
Mary Madden Joe Madden has been wonderful taking care of her
Charlie Goodwin Had a great week with his three year old granddaughter, his son and daughter-in-law; It is an extra treat to see them since they live in Philadelphia
Bill Stone Glad to be back home after a great vacation with Kelly
Joan Cordonnier You can donate shoes at Up and Running or Bill’s Donuts
Myron Rheaume Carolyn Taylor was able to eat spaghetti without getting it on her clothes
Myron Rheaume His guest wasn’t fined when his phone rang during the meeting.
John Carroll Proud of the 2 students that came today asking for donations; He is positive they will be Optimists one day
Gary Smiga CNO matched the member donations of $905 for a total of $1810 to CHS Spirit Chain
Erin Dickerson 4 CNO members were present for the chartering of a new JOI club at 5 Points Elementary school with 42 members
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