A local judge in Ohio has been sanctioned for sending two boys to a youth lock-up facility so as to force them into visiting their father.
Timothy Grendell (Geauga County Probate-Juvenile Court).
A Geauga County judge in Ohio has been suspended after the state Supreme Court found he improperly sent two teenage boys to a youth detention facility to compel them to visit their father.
In an 88-page opinion, the Supreme Court of Ohio ruled that Probate-Juvenile Court Judge Timothy Grendell violated multiple judicial ethics rules. The court handed down an 18-month suspension, with 12 months stayed. Grendell was immediately removed from the bench without pay and must remain misconduct-free during his suspension. Any future ethical violations could result in him serving the full 18-month term.
The case at the center of the sanction involved the divorce of Stacy Hartman and Grant Glasier and the custody of their three children. Hartman had been granted primary custody under a 2010 divorce decree, while Glasier retained visitation rights.
After taking over the case in 2019, Grendell confronted a difficult situation: the children were reportedly “seriously alienated” from their father. A court-appointed psychologist concluded that while the boys viewed their father as abusive and alcoholic, these beliefs were largely influenced by their mother and her boyfriend. The psychologist recommended a gradual reunification process.
Despite this guidance, over a year passed with the boys refusing all contact with their father. Multiple attempts at “therapeutic visitation” failed, and the third-party contractor hired to facilitate visits refused to force the children to participate.
In May 2020, after the children still refused visitation, Grendell ordered the boys to spend alternating weekends with their father, with the transfer to occur at the county sheriff’s office. When the boys resisted, Grendell directed that they be detained for “unruliness,” resulting in a three-day stay at a juvenile detention center. The boys were not allowed to communicate with their parents during this time, although their priest was permitted to visit.
The Supreme Court found that Grendell had acted improperly by using detention to coerce the children, directing the constable to file charges against them, and failing to maintain judicial objectivity. The court also criticized Grendell for threatening to “claw back” funds raised for the family through a GoFundMe campaign, saying the move appeared motivated by personal anger rather than concern for the children’s welfare.
“Improperly ordering two teenage boys to spend a weekend in detention is not an act that instills public confidence in the impartiality of the judiciary,” the court wrote.
The Supreme Court concluded that while Grendell may have had good intentions, his actions demonstrated a “conscious disregard for the law” and a failure to remain impartial.
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