Creative sentence sends Catholic man convicted in assault case to Baptist church
Jake Strotman says he was just trying to find out more about some Baptist street preachers when he approached the group one Saturday night in January.
The 23-year-old Catholic had a few beers at the Cincinnati Cyclones hockey game, he told a judge last week, and the group was saying he was headed to hell. Then another man approached and started an altercation with the Baptists, Strotman says.
A scuffle ensued, and Strotman found himself on the ground. When he tried to push himself up, he says, his hand landed on Joshua Johnson’s face. Johnson apparently suffered a cut on his face from his eyeglasses. That resulted in an attempted assault conviction that could have put Strotman behind bars for 90 days, reports the Cincinnati Enquirer.
But the quick-thinking Strotman, a self-employed window, siding and door salesman, suggested an alternative to Hamilton County Judge William Mallory. Strotman asked Mallory, who is known for his creative sentences, if instead of prison he might go to church instead—the Baptist church that Johnson attends.
Everyone agreed, and Mallory resolved the municipal court case by ordering Strotman to attend Johnson’s church on Sunday mornings for 12 consecutive weeks. The minister will sign off on each week’s program of worship services to show that Strotman attended, the newspaper reports.
Strotman must also pay $480 in fines, as well as $2,800 to his lawyer.
“I’m going to listen with both my ears and keep my mouth shut,” he told the newspaper. “Then, maybe I’ll try to sell them some windows.”
