Head Start case timeline

TIMELINEThe following is a timeline of dates and events in the 1990s Head Start child abuse case from 1993 to 2024, taken from news reporting and public court records. May 1993: Allegations of sexual misconduct are reported to Lorain police. November 1993: Joseph Allen and Nancy Smith, a Head Start bus driver, are indicted on felony charges that they allegedly took the 4- and 5-year-old children on her bus route to Allen's home in Lorain and sexually abused them. Evidence later surfaces that the alleged victims' stories and identifications of Allen were questionable, and multiple children fail to identify Allen in a Lorain police lineup. July 1994: Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Lynett McGough rejects a request from Smith's attorneys for separate trials. August 1994: Smith and Allen are convicted by a jury after a nine-day trial. McGough sentences Allen to five consecutive life sentences. Smith gets 30 to 90 years in prison. A videotape of the lineup is not shown to the jury. January 1996: Smith's conviction is upheld by the 9th District Court of Appeals. The Ohio Supreme Court later declines to hear the case. August 1997: Allen's conviction is upheld by the 9th District Court of Appeals. The Ohio Supreme Court later declines to hear the case. January 1998: 9th District appeals judges uphold Smith's conviction a second time. June 2003: The alleged victims are awarded $1.5 million each in a civil lawsuit against the Lorain County Community Action Agency. July 2003: Smith's attempt to reopen her appeals case is rejected by the 9th District Court of Appeals. February 2007: The Ohio Parole Board declines to grant Smith parole, saying she is in "denial" because she won't admit guilt. February 2009: Smith is released on bond after Common Pleas Judge James Burge finds that she is entitled to a new sentencing hearing on technical grounds. April 2009: Allen is freed from prison on bond pending further court dates. June 2009: Burge throws out the cases against both Allen and Smith, effectively acquitting them. October 2009: An appeals court rules that Burge's acquittals should stand. June 2010: The 9th District Court of Appeals upholds Smith's acquittal, but in the same decision says Allen should be resentenced because Burge was not permitted to acquit him. January 2011: The Ohio Supreme Court rules Burge overstepped his authority when he acquitted Allen and Smith. They remain free, without a re-sentencing hearing, while Burge's handling of the case is reviewed by the Supreme Court's Office of Disciplinary Counsel. April 2012: The Head Start case is featured in an NBC "Dateline" documentary. Smith files for clemency with the Ohio Parole Board and appears before the board in January 2013. March 2013: Burge removes himself from the case. Retired Stark County Judge Virgil Sinclair Jr. is appointed to oversee it. June 2013: Smith reaches a sentencing agreement with prosecutors that allows her to be released from prison with credit for time served. August 2013: The Ohio Parole Board opposes a full pardon for Smith. October 2013: Free since April 2009, Allen is re-sentenced and ordered back to prison after striking a plea deal with prosecutors that leaves him eligible for parole. October 2021: County Prosecutor J.D. Tomlinson confirms he has notified victims of the alleged abuse of his intent to reexamine the case. Dec. 14, 2021: Allen and Smith file a motion for permission to seek a new trial, with Tomlinson's support. Dec. 22, 2021: Common Pleas Judge Chris Cook holds a hearing, and Allen is released on bond while the judge considers his and Smith's requests for permission to seek a new trial. Dec. 29, 2021: Cook grants Allen and Smith permission to seek a new trial. Feb. 25, 2022: Cook first grants Allen and Smith a new trial, then grants Tomlinson's motion to dismiss the charges. They are freed. Feb. 23, 2024: Smith sues the city of Lorain, several former Lorain police officers, Lorain County, former assistant Lorain County prosecutor Jonathan Rosenbaum and Margie Grondin — the mother of one of her accusers — for wrongful conviction in U.S. District Court. The case is pending. SOURCES: Chronicle-Telegram archives and reporting; Lorain County Common Pleas Court, 9th District Court of Appeals, and U.S. District Court records