Disclaimer: This story contains graphic content including descriptions of sexual harassment.
Hocking County Prosecutor Ryan Black is accused of misconduct, including sexual harassment and engaging in a sexual relationship with a Hocking County commissioner.
The Ohio Supreme Court's Ohio Disciplinary Counsel filed a complaint with the Ohio Board of Professional Conduct seeking to disbar Black to prevent him from practicing law in the state. The office investigates and prosecutes attorneys and judicial officers who are accused of ethical and professional misconduct. The complaint follows an earlier lawsuit in U.S. District Court by two former employees alleging misconduct by Black.
Black was elected county prosecutor in 2020.
Black is accused of sexually harassing an employee, having sex with Commissioner Jessica Dicken and retaliating against a third staff member after she ended their sexual relationship, according to the complaint. Black is stepping down from his position, but his resignation doesn't take effect until April 19.
The complaint outlines allegations by two employees: a former victim advocate in the office who left the job due to Black's actions and a former assistant prosecuting attorney, who was only on the job for 11 months before leaving. Later in the complaint, it alleges Black's fiancé walked in on Commissioner Dicken and Black having sex.
Dicken did not respond to a request for comment.
Black's lawyer Alvin Mathews Jr. told WOSU he doesn't think all the allegations will be substantiated in court. He said that he and Black will file a response to the allegations this month.
"There are a lot of salacious allegations there, and you know, people would like to know what his position is, but we're not in a position to to get specific right now," Matthews said.
The complaint alleges Black violated policy by engaging in sexual relations with Dicken, because the prosecutor's office is the legal representative of the county commissioners.
The complaint said Black took the victim advocate to a hospital after she was sexually assaulted by an unidentified individual in 2021. It said that in 2022, the person told Black she was pregnant, and Black crudely joked multiple times he could help her end her pregnancy.
Later that year, the woman had a miscarriage and Black allegedly celebrated the miscarriage and told the woman he was happy.
Black allegedly sent the victim advocate multiple shirtless photos and flirtatious texts. When Black was attempting to get the woman to have sex with him, he became increasingly insistent, texting her multiple times a day.
At one point, Black allegedly wanted a couch moved into his office. He told the woman that he wanted other women in the office to dress in bikinis and move it to his office. He called it a "casting couch" and "insinuated he was going to video record sexual activity on the couch."
When flirting with the woman, Black allegedly sent her text messages such as "If you look dashing and I grope you don't sue me lmao."
The complaint claimed the woman felt pressured to engage in this relationship with Black because he could fire her.
The complaint also said after the woman stopped responding to Black, he put her on a two-week involuntary leave and later hired another victim advocate and put the new employee at the woman's desk. The woman eventually left her job.
In the complaint, a female employee who was an assistant prosecutor in the office, alleges that when another employee complimented a new dress of hers, Black stepped in and made an inappropriate comment. The complaint said Black told the woman he wanted her to wrap her legs around his face. He allegedly then did an impression with his face to imitate oral sex.
The complaint said Black then texted the woman and sent a shirtless photo of himself. It said the woman felt pressured to compliment her boss and did so.
The complaint also stated Black made inappropriate comments to the woman at the home of a sheriff's deputy during a house party. The deputy had bought a donkey and offered to let the woman feed the animal a carrot.
Black allegedly made innuendos after that party to the woman on that day and in subsequent days via text messages.
The complaint said that Black also made comments in front of Hocking County Commissioner Jason D'Onofrio about the woman's phone number being written on a bathroom stall at the Hocking County Sheriff's Department. The woman then repeatedly denied her phone number was written on the wall to both Black and D'Onofrio. The woman later resigned her position.
The complaint also details a relationship that Black and the former victim advocate had following the miscarriage. The complaint alleges Black groomed her and then retaliated against her after she stopped reciprocating his sexual advances.
The complaint also alleged other employees in the office made staff members afraid of Black. The complaint said staff were aware he kept a firearm in his office and often felt pressured to compliment his appearance to put him in a good mood.
Black and Matthews have until April 23 to respond to the allegations.
