TOLEDO, Ohio-The Ottawa Hills Local School District has partially settled a $100 million federal lawsuit involving sexual abuse by former district employee Ronald “Donnie” Stevens. In August 2024, the district settled with one of the three victims for $180,000, with a confidentiality agreement preventing the victim from refiling the suit. Stevens was previously convicted in 2021 and sentenced to multiple life sentences for sexually abusing at least six teenage boys between 2017 and 2019. Most victims were students who were friends of Stevens’ son and would attend sleepovers at his home. The lawsuit alleges that the school district, school board, and 17 employees, including Stevens’ wife, either knew or suspected the sexual abuse was occurring on school grounds over multiple years. In the district’s October 2024 response, they denied knowledge of the abuse. The remaining two victims’ claims are still proceeding, and the school district’s superintendent, Adam Fineske, who is named as a defendant, declined to comment on the ongoing litigation.
