Trial set for former WRA teacher accused of Internet importuning

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by Dorothy Markulis

Reporter

Hudson -- A former Western Reserve Academy math teacher charged with communicating sexual acts on the Internet with an agent posing as a 12-year-old girl will be tried March 17 in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.

Howard A. Kaplan will appear before Judge Judith Kilbane-Koch at 9:30 a.m. at the Cuyahoga County Courthouse.

Kaplan's attorney William E. Gerstenslager did not return a message left at his office.

Kaplan was arrested Aug. 23, 2007, by the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department and charged with communicating sexual acts on the Internet with who he believed to be a 12-year-old girl, according to Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason.

The "12-year-old" was actually a member of the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Kaplan was arrested at the home he shared with his wife on the WRA campus.

According to WRA headmaster Henry E. Flanagan Jr., he accepted Kaplan's resignation after the arrest.

Kaplan was indicted Aug. 28 by the Cuyahoga County Grand Jury on nine counts of importuning and one count of possession of criminal tools, which refers to his computer.

According to information provided by Mason, also task force chairman, the task force engaged Kaplan in Internet conversations from May 10 to Aug. 21, 2007.

E-mail: dmarkulis@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3143