Stow man, 70, pleads guilty to molesting boy, faces up to 30 years

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by Tess Wolfe

Reporter

Stow -- A Mac Drive resident will be sentenced next month after he pleaded guilty Oct. 2 to several felony counts related to the sexual molestation of a Stow minor over a three-month period.

Glen Van Kleeck, 70, pleaded guilty in Summit County Court of Common Pleas to six counts of gross sexual imposition, a third-degree felony, and faces a maximum prison sentence of 30 years.

Attorney Scott A. Rilley, who represented Van Kleeck, declined comment.

Stow Police arrested Van Kleeck July 16 on charges of gross sexual imposition after receiving a report he had molested an 11-year-old boy.

Van Kleeck was a close family friend of the boy, who called him "Pawpaw," according to Laurie Cramer, spokesperson for Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh.

Stow Police Lt. Rick Myers was instrumental in the case, Walsh said in a press release.

"He did an exhaustive investigation," Cramer said of Myers, adding Myers conducted a "painstaking" interview of Van Kleeck that lasted more than four hours.

Van Kleeck had been a Scoutmaster for approximately 25 years in Florida, where he met the boy's family.

Van Kleeck moved to Stow after the family relocated here, said Cramer.

Myers, who could not be reached for comment, was slated as a prosecution witness if the case had gone to trial Oct. 2 as scheduled.

"The jury was canceled Oct. 1 and we had requested a plea be sought, so we knew it was going to happen," said Cramer.

Van Kleeck is scheduled for a Nov. 10 sentencing in Summit County Court of Common Pleas before Judge Robert Gippin.

E-mail: twolfe@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-686-3916