DELAWARE COUNTY, Ohio — An Ohio County assistant prosecutor, who accused a Judge of sexual assault, is resigning from her position.
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In a resignation letter to Delaware County Prosecutor Melissa Shiffel, the assistant prosecutor said she is unable to continue working at the office because of Judge James Schuck’s anticipated return to the bench, our news partners WBNS-10 TV reported.
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“I have suffered, and continue to suffer, from the effects of a wrongful, power-imbalanced relationship with Judge Schuck. For that reason, I cannot continue my career with the Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office under circumstances where his return is both anticipated and imminent,” she wrote in the letter.
The assistant prosecutor’s last day is May 11, WBNS-10 TV reported.
“We acknowledge that Mr. Schuck folded and agreed to the Protection Order after a months long campaign in the media professing his innocence, but due to his anticipated return to the Bench, our client has had to make the incredibly difficult decision to resign and leave her position as Assistant Prosecutor, which the Delaware County Prosecutor has accepted and they entered into a separation agreement,” her attorneys said in a statement.
Schuck’s attorney, Brad Koffel, shared the following statement with WBNS-10 TV:
“Let me be crystal clear: this was a consensual sexual relationship that [assistant prosecutor] pursued and continued. He agreed to the consent order because there was no reason to fight that. [Assistant prosecutor] either quit or was given the opportunity to resign. I don’t know.”
Schuck has been on a voluntary leave of absence since last November, when the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office took a report of an alleged rape.
The matter was handed to an outside agency, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, where the investigation is open and ongoing, WBNS-10 TV reported.
Shcuck has admitted to having a personal relationship outside of his marriage, but has denied any criminal wrongdoing.
Schuck has agreed to comply with a protection order the assistant prosecutor filed in November.
The judge must stay at least 20 feet away from her, not contact her or use any electronic surveillance on her, WBNS-10 TV reported.
The consent agreement does allow Schuck to enter the Delaware County Courthouse, where both parties work.
The protective order is effective through November 25, WBNS-10 TV reported.
Officials with the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas said they have not been made aware of a date Schuck will return from leave.
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