The Centerville man was previously scheduled to be sentenced on his 38th birthday after he admitted in August to four counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor, according to court records.
The crimes are all fourth-degree felonies, according to the court documents. Convictions on each count are punishable by six to 18 months in prison.
The change by Koehler followed a more than 20-minute meeting in Melnick’s chambers involving defense attorney Dennis Lieberman and prosecutors.
Lieberman motioned Koehler, who had been sitting in the courtroom’s spectator area, into the meeting shortly before it ended.
“Your honor, after our conversations in chambers, we would, at this time, move to withdraw” early pleas, Lieberman said after the four-minute hearing started.
Melnick granted that action and Koehler acknowledged he was waiving his right to a speedy trial, a move he had agreed to earlier this year, according to court documents.
Lieberman and prosecutors declined to comment after the hearing.
In June, Koehler was also indicted on two charges of pandering obscenity involving a minor and illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance.
He initially pleaded not guilty to all the charges. But on Aug. 23 Koehler withdrew earlier pleas and admitted to four counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor as part of a plea agreement, court records show.
The remaining two charges were dismissed, the plea agreement states.
If convicted, Koehler could be labeled a Tier II sex offender, unable to live within 1,000 feet of a school, preschool or child daycare, according to court records. He would also be subject to address verification every 180 days for 25 years, documents show.
Koehler was indicted on all six counts June 12. He pleaded not guilty to the charges on June 27, the same day he resigned from Kettering schools, where he had been placed on unpaid administrative leave since Dec. 7 after he was criminally charged, according to school district and court records.
Koehler was initially placed on administrative leave by Kettering schools Nov. 20, when the district became aware of allegations made by a former student, Superintendent Mindy McCarty-Stewart has said.
Koehler led or helped lead several extracurricular music and choir groups since being hired by Kettering in 2012, working primarily at Fairmont High School, according to school district records.
On Nov. 19, 2023, a 19-year-old male reported to Kettering police that when he was in middle school years earlier, the defendant had acted inappropriately and had exchanged texts of a sexual nature, according to the prosecutor’s office.
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