Gavorcik told investigators that he lusts after boys and liked to fondle them by playing a game in which he put his hand in their pockets.
The Franklin County judge who drew fire two years ago for giving probation to a convicted sex offender sentenced another pedophile yesterday to more than seven years in prison.
Common Pleas Judge John A. Connor said he now believes that the Ohio prison system can treat pedophiles -- an about-face from his 2005 ruling that sent a man to treatment after he admitted to abusing two boys over three years.
Pedophilia "is a sickness," Connor said yesterday at the sentencing of Todd R. Gavorcik, 26. "Pedophilia is not an addiction; it's not a mental-health issue.
"Pedophilia is in a class by itself, and the public is afraid of pedophiles. Prison is the appropriate facility not only for rehabilitation but for protection of the public."
Gavorcik, of Broad Meadows Boulevard on the North Side, pleaded guilty last month to gross sexual imposition and pandering obscenity. While out on bond on charges of fondling two 10-year-old boys in Groveport, he was picked up near an elementary school by Dublin police, who found nude photos of children in his car.
More photos were found in his house. Gavorcik admitted to downloading pornographic images at his job as a medical-claims specialist for OhioHealth, saying he thought it was legal because the photos were on the Internet.
Gavorcik told investigators that he lusts after boys and liked to fondle them by playing a game in which he put his hand in their pockets.
Connor sentenced Gavorcik to 87 months in prison. Families of the two victims, who were in court for the sentencing, had asked for the maximum sentence of eight years, saying Gavorcik had robbed their children of their innocence.
Gavorcik, who had no criminal record, must register as a sex offender for 25 years after he is released from prison.
"I hope I can someday be productive and not a menace to society," he said as part of an apology in court.
In December 2005, Connor sentenced Andrew S. Selva to five years of probation, including a year on house arrest, on the condition that he receive treatment. Selva was indicted on 20 counts of rape and two counts of gross sexual imposition; he pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual battery.
A few months later, Connor's sentence touched off a firestorm of criticism and brought calls for his ouster from victims-rights advocates, the governor and state legislators, and national TV commentators.
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