A former Lebanon educator accused of sexual misconduct has pleaded guilty to lesser charges.
Thomas F. Luthy Jr., 81, pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of a peace disturbance, first offense (a class B misdemeanor). Luthy had originally been charged with two counts of first-degree sexual misconduct and one count of second-degree sexual misconduct, according to court records.
Luthy was sentenced to two years of supervised probation with a suspended sentence of six months in jail for each charge. The sentences are to run consecutively, according to court documents.
Luthy, who was both a teacher and administrator in the Lebanon R-3 School District, was accused of exposing himself to people, including a child, in two separate incidents in the bathroom of The Mall in 2018. He also was accused of inappropriately touching an individual, who was under the age of 18, at the Lebanon YMCA in 2019, according to court documents.
Luthy had pleaded not guilty to the original charges in July 2019.
The case was presided over and prosecuted by out-of-county officials after local judges and prosecutors recused themselves from the case. Judge Joseph Gilley of Camden County presided while Morgan County Prosecuting Attorney Dustin G. Dunklee served as special prosecuting attorney for the case, according to online court records.
Luthy began his career in education in the late 1950s. He served as a history teacher at Lebanon High School in the 1960s, during which he developed the American Heritage class and Future Leaders of America program. He later became Lebanon Junior High School principal and then assistant superintendent for the district until retiring in 2004.
In 2014, Luthy was named to the Wall of Honor at the Cowan Civic Center.
