News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, December 3, 2025

Zanesville Man Admits Masturbating in Front of Child

Adam Gaiters, 45, of Zanesville appeared in the Muskingum County Court of Common Pleas Wednesday to admit to the crime of public indecency and menacing by stalking. He faces 6 months in jail when he is sentenced at a later date.

During the hearing, the Court heard the facts underlying the case and of the extreme mental distress Gaiters caused to his child-victim. The mental distress Gaiters caused his victim by repeatedly making inappropriate comments and openly masturbating in front of the child, took place over the course of more than three years.

The Court learned that the victim disclosed the abuse to a school professional who promptly and appropriately reported the crimes. Dep. Sarah Lanning with the Muskingum County Sheriff’s Office and Det. Richard Perry then conducted a thorough investigation.

Their investigation showed that Gaiters’s sexual misconduct occurred before, and after, his previous prosecution for exposing himself to another child. Although that case was sealed, because the new offense mirrors the way the previous crime was committed, it was available as evidence in the new case.

Ohio law establishes that it is a misdemeanor of the second degree to masturbate in front of a child. Deliberately engaging in a pattern of behavior to cause another person mental distress can be the crime of menacing by stalking.



Facts of the Case:

The victim disclosed more than ten, and less than 50 incidents of Gaiters’s behavior. One incident occurred while Gaiters was watching a comic movie with the child. While the child was sitting in a chair, Gaiters began masturbating on the couch. The child fled the room.

Later, Gaiters texted the child after the child’s mother confronted him, “… you told your mom I was on the couch jerking off Sunday. Now we are fighting…” Gaiters went on to blame his actions on the steroids that he was using.

Another time, Gaiters texted the then 16-year-old child describing the child’s anatomy in an extremely inappropriate manner.

These behaviors went on and on for an extensive period of time.

The child reported Gaiters’s behavior to her caregiver, who attempted to normalize his actions and did nothing to keep the child safe, making the traumatic situation worse.

Thanks to the prompt intervention of school officials and law enforcement the victim is now receiving care, protection and support that was previously denied.



Resolution of the Case:

“Unfortunately, the law does not provide adequate punishment for these types of offenses,” according to Assistant Prosecutor John Litle who handled the case.

If the case went to trial, the maximum possible sentence would be eighteen months. More than that, over the last year juries have become increasingly hesitant to believe victims of sexually related abuse, a factor which must be taken into consideration in preparing for any trial.

The most important outcome for the victim and to the prosecutor’s office was to ensure that Gaiters would have to register as a sex offender to put other mothers and children on notice of the danger he poses.

Unfortunately, sex offender registration is optional for the offense of public indecency, and the Court does not have to impose the registration.

After careful consideration and consultation with the victim, the decision was made to ensure that Gaiters must register as a sex offender. This was accomplished by making registration a condition of his plea, and in turn foregoing the possibility of arguing for an additional possible year of punishment.

“This case and its agreed resolution were very tough to handle,” according to APA Litle. “This victim has been let down multiple times; by the offender, by those who should have protected the victim, by the law itself, and by the legal system who previously dealt with the same man, doing the exact same thing, to a different child victim.”

The law remains inadequate to provide a sufficient punishment for Gaiters’s behavior, but from this case forth Gaiters will be unable to deny that he is a sex offender or pretend that he is the victim when he is the wrongdoer.

“Those were the specific issues most important to the innocent victim, and therefore they were the priorities driving this resolution,” according to Litle.

###
Follow the Muskingum County Prosecutor’s Office on Facebook for the most current and complete information.