CALDWELL – A former Shenandoah High School wrestling coach has been sentenced to six years in prison on a variety of sex-related charges.

James B. Giesey, 51, of Pleasant City, was sentenced Monday in Noble County Common Pleas Court during a change of plea hearing.

Giesey was arrested on Jan. 22, 2023, following an investigation initiated by the Noble County Sheriff’s Office. The school district placed him on administrate leave at the time of his arrest and his employment was later discontinued.

On Monday, he pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual battery, third-degree felonies, and one count of failure to comply with underage alcohol laws, an unclassified misdemeanor, according to Noble County Prosecutor Jordan Croucher. He also entered a plea of no contest to one count of gross sexual imposition, a fourth-degree felony.

Prison sentences

Giesey was sentenced to one year in prison on the gross sexual imposition charge, three years each for the sexual battery charges and fined $150 for failure to comply with alcohol laws. Croucher said he will serve the terms for gross sexual imposition and two counts of sexual battery concurrently, for a total of three years, and serve the term for the other two counts of sexual battery concurrently, for another three years in prison. He will spend a total of six years in prison. Croucher said the court would consider early release down the road.

He will also be required to register as a Tier 3 sex offender.

There were a total of six victims in the case, one on the gross sexual imposition charge, one for the sexual battery charges and four juveniles under the age of 21 for the failure to comply with alcohol laws.

“I just want to say that I found the sheriff’s office did an excellent job investigating it. They really gave us some great evidence to work with. I’m pleased to get the convictions we got,” Croucher said.

Noble Local Schools did not respond for a request for comment.

Reach Jon at 330-364-8415 or at jon.baker@timesreporter.com.

This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Former Shenandoah wrestling coach sentenced on sex-related charges