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	Ex-Minister Admits Abuse Girl, 13, Was Foster Child, Then Adopted by Family By Sharon Coolidge Cincinnati Enquirer October 25, 2006 http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061025/NEWS01/610250373 The former minister of Carthage Baptist Church admitted in court Tuesday that he fondled his 13-year-old daughter, whom he adopted after she was placed with the family as a foster child. Ronald Love, 50, of Anderson Township, pleaded guilty to two charges of gross sexual imposition in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court in return for the dismissal of two other charges, according to court officials. The girl's biological mother, who is forbidden by court order from having contact with the girl, showed up at the hearing and spoke passionately about preventing Love from ever harming a child again. "I'm going to follow through with everything that I can follow through with to make sure that Mr. Love don't never do this again to anybody else," Maria Burd said. Assistant Hamilton County Prosecutor Richard Guinan said Love fondled the girl several times between January and April. The girl told her sister about the molestation, who in turn told Burd, Guinan said. Burd alerted child protection services and the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, Guinan said. Love was arrested June 9, records show. Guinan said Love was so terrified during his police interview that he urinated on himself. "The worst part of this is that he was in the role of parent with a child who had special needs," Guinan said. "This just exacerbated her problems. "Foster parents and adoptive parents are supposed to make a kid's life better, and that did not happen here." Love has since resigned as minister of the Springfield Township church. The church did not return calls for comment. Love's lawyer, Ted Froncek, also did not return a call. The girl was placed with Love and his wife, Kathleen, after her mother lost custody, Guinan said. The girl is no longer in the Loves' custody, Guinan said. She is being treated in the psychiatric ward of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. The Hamilton County Department of Job and Family Services asked in June that the adoption be terminated. The termination was granted by a Hamilton County Juvenile Court magistrate Sept. 8, court records show. Hamilton County Job and Family Services spokesman Brian Gregg said the Loves were licensed foster parents through the agency. They have had three foster children in the last four years, but the agency no longer places children with the couple, Gregg said. Love could face up to three years in prison when sentenced Nov. 17. Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Patrick Dinkelacker has the option of ordering probation because Love has no prior criminal record. Burd told the judge that she understands Love might not go to prison but pleaded that he get some time behind bars, even if it's in the local jail. At the hearing, the judge also must determine whether Love should be classified as a sexually oriented offender. If that happens, he must register his address with the sheriff's office in the county where he lives for 10 years. Love, who had been free on bond, was taken into custody and is being held at the Hamilton County Justice Center. E-mail scoolidge@enquirer.com
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